Sitting in the conference room Alex listened to everyone giving updates on cases and offering advice, and the occasional snipe. She had a headache, and she was starting to wish she hadn't had that bagel with cream cheese and lox this morning because apparently the salmon wanted to swim back upstream. She was just hoping she could hold out until after the staff meeting.

"Sorry I'm late." Brian said as he came in. He dropped a brown paper bag on the table and pulled out a hot dog with the works and then some.

The room quickly filled with the smell of onions, sauerkraut, and if she didn't know any better city smog. In one fluid, and somehow still graceful, move Alex was out of her chair and out the door.

Everyone's head turned to watch as their chief bolted; everyone looking confused as hell.

"What's up with Cabot?" Jessica asked.

"Did she actually look green to anyone else?" Christina asked.

Ok, Alex thought as she also preyed no one would come into the ladies room, this was going to be one of the more annoying symptoms. Or at least the second most annoying if the tender, not in a good way, breasts thing went past the mild discomfort she'd had when Olivia had tried to…. Alex blinked, her train of thought totally derailing as it dawned on her. She was finally showing tell tail signs of pregnancy. They couldn't be sure exactly when the embryo had implanted during the two weeks between the IVF procedure and Alex's blood work, but technically the day of the IVF would be counted as the day of conception, so Alex did the raw math in her head. It was the start of her sixth week, still pretty early but if she remembered what she'd been reading the embryo would really start developing more now. It was like someone had flipped a switch in Alex's brain because she couldn't think of it simply as an implanted embryo anymore, now it was a baby, her baby, her and Olivia's baby. Slowly getting to her feet from her crouched position near the toilet, Alex took her cell phone out of her suit jacket pocket.

"Benson."

Alex smiled at the sound of her wife's voice. "Liv, what's you're evening looking like?"

"Not sure yet," Came the reply. "Why's your voice echoing like that?"

"Because I'm in the bathroom." Alex replied, then titled her head back as another wave of nausea hit.

"Why are you calling from the bathroom?"

"Because I really don't feel like throwing up in my office." Alex replied.

"Why are you…."

Alex smirked. Olivia was about to ask why she was throwing up, but if she was with Elliot, who knew about their attempts, that could have been a give away. "Yeah, that's why." She replied answering the half asked question. "I think we should tell Allie tonight."

"I'll see what I can do about getting home then."

"Good. Gotta go." She said quickly and then snapped the phone closed before she was back in her crouched position near the toilet.

"Alex?" Olivia called out as she came into the apartment. She smiled when she saw Allie on her knees in front of the coffee table working on home work. She shrugged out of her jacket, hung it up, then went to sit on the couch near her daughter. "Hey Allie-Cat." She leaned down and kissed the top of the girl's head. "Where's Mama?"

"In the bathroom." Allie replied as she continued to work out her math problems.

Olivia kissed the top of Allie's head again and then pointed to one of the problems. "Try that one again baby. I'm gonna go check on Mama."

Allie looked at the problem and then nodded, "Ok, just don't say sauerkraut."

"Why not?" Olivia asked with an amused look on her face.

"Cause Mama asked what I wanted for dinner and I said kielbasa, little potatoes and sauerkraut." Allie said, then finally looked up at her mommy with her head titled. "Mama went kinda white then green then went to the bathroom. I went to check on her but she was throwing up and it's rude to listen to someone throwing up, so I told Max to watch her."

"Ah," Olivia said simply as she tired not to laugh. If the thought of sauerkraut and/or cabbage made Alex sick, then having a child who was raised and feed for the first half of her life by a Polish born Russian Jew was going to be interesting. "Good boy, Max." She said with a chuckle as she passed the dog who was obviously guarding the bedroom door. Stepping over to the bathroom door she leaned against the frame as she watched Alex sitting with her back against the bathtub. "Guess we won't be having a certain shredded and pickled vegetable for awhile, huh?"

Alex groan as she shot her wife a dirty look. "Peluso brought a hot dog into the staff meeting, as soon as Allie said the word I could smell it again." Getting up slowly she went over to the sink and splashed water on her face. "Is Allie alright? I didn't scare her did I?"

Olivia shook her head. "No, she heard you throwing up and decided it was rude to listen so she ordered Max to guard you."

Alex had to laugh at that.

Walking over, Olivia wrapped her arms around Alex, her hands resting on the blonde's stomach. "Other then the obvious, are you ok?"

"Yeah," Alex replied as she leaned back against her wife. "It only happened twice, other wise I've felt fine other then being tired. I was a little extra bitchy but I don't think anyone noticed."

"Why don't you lie down for a little while. I'll make dinner, something light, then we can talk to Allie." Olivia said softly as she nuzzled Alex's neck.

Alex sighed and closed her eyes. "Alright, but only for a little while. I really want to let Allie know her chicken worked."

Olivia laughed, kissed Alex softly and then lead her into the bedroom and over to the bed. Then she went back out into the living room and smiled as she watched Allie for a moment. She was really starting to look forward to having another child around. Each time she looked at Allie she fell in love with her all over again, and every time they spent time together she discovered something new about her daughter. She wanted that with the new baby too. "Home work done?" She asked as she came over to where the girl was.

"Almost." Allie replied as she looked up at her mommy. "Is Mama ok?"

"She's fine baby," Olivia replied and then held out her hand. "She's going to lie down for a little while, so why don't you come help me make dinner."

Allie smiled and jumped to her feet. "Ok!"

"Hey," Olivia said an hour late when Allie came back into the kitchen alone. "I thought I asked you to get Mama."

"She's sleeping." Allie replied. "I didn't know if I should wake her if she's sick. Plus, she's grumpy if you wake her up when she's fallen asleep."

Olivia laughed. "Chicken."

"Yeap." Allie replied as she got on her chair at the table.

Knowing how badly Alex wanted to talk to Allie, Olivia decided to be the brave one and wake her wife up from her nap. Sitting on the edge of their bed she brushed lightly at Alex's hair. "Baby." She said softly. "Sweetie, dinner's ready."

Alex moaned as she slowly came around. "I feel asleep?"

Olivia nodded with a bright smile. "Fatigue, you'll probably nap a lot for awhile. Feeling better?"

It took a moment for Alex to take stock of herself but then nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

When her mothers came into the kitchen Allie could tell that you mama was still tired even though she'd taken a nap. She'd looked tired for a couple of days now, and she was starting to worry. "Are you ok, Mama?"

Alex smiled, paused behind Allie long enough to kiss the top of her head, and then took her seat at the table. "I'm fine, baby girl. Just a little tired."

"You should stay home and rest if you're getting sick, Mama." Allie said as she dipped a piece of her French bread in the creamy soup her mommy had made. "If Mr. McCoy gets mad you can always ask for a doctor's note to show him."

The image of handing Jack McCoy a "Please excuse Alex from court today she's pregnant" note made Alex snort. "I'm not getting sick baby girl." Allie looked up at her with a 'I don't believe you' look that reminded Alex of a look she often used, and it made her smile. "I'm not sweetie, I promise. Me being tired and getting sick earlier are just normal symptoms that we'll have to put up with for a while."

"Symptoms of what?" Allie asked as she looked between her mothers, before finally settling her gaze on Alex.

They were going to wait until after dinner, but since she was asking and she'd looked so worried over Alex being sick, Alex decided to skip ahead. "They're symptoms that mama's get when they're pregnant."

Olivia smiled brightly as she watched Allie's reactions carefully. "You're lucky chicken worked."

Allie sat there for a moment, taking in what her mothers were saying. Her mama was going to have a baby, really really have, it was inside her and everything now. That meant she was going to be a big sister, but that also meant she'd have to share her mothers. That thought had bothered her until she figured out that her mothers were the best mothers ever and any baby would be lucky to have them, just like she was. A slow smile spread across her face as her eyes lit up. "When will it be here? What is it? Will it be a boy or a girl? Can we see it? Is it moving? How big is it now?"

Alex had been holding her breath as she waited for Allie to respond and when the girl finally did, she couldn't help but laugh. "Slow down baby girl." She said between laughs. "The baby will come in about nine months give or take a week or three. It's too soon to know if it's a boy or a girl. When we go to see the first ultrasound you can come with us. No it's not moving yet, but it will be soon, but it'll be awhile before we'll be able to feel it. And right now it's about as big a chili bean."

"Wow," Allie breathed out slowly. "That's tiny."

Olivia laughed. She was as relieved as Alex was at Allie's positive reaction, but she knew that that reaction would probably fluctuate for a little while. "It'll get bigger."

"How big?" Allie asked.

"Most baby's are between six and eight pounds." Olivia replied. "Little El was a little more then six."

"And it's gonna grow that big in nine months?" The girl asked.

Alex nodded. "Yeap, and so is my belly."

Allie giggled as she tried to picture her mama looking the way her aunt Kathy had. Then she smiled again, got up from the table and went over to hug her mama. "See, I knew my lucky chicken would work."

Alex laughed as she hugged her little girl. "It sure did, sweetie."