Playing House

(Chapter Twenty Nine: In The Name Of Love)

It was nearing two in the morning and Maureen paced the floor waiting for the phone to ring.

"Relax, it could take all night," Kathleen reminded her from the recliner across the room.

"You're not nervous? This is so exciting. Any minute now our baby sister will enter the world."

"It is exciting. But it can also take a long time. Some women are in labor for days."

"That would be awful," Maureen exclaimed.

"Yeah, it would," Kathleen agreed thinking back to her labor experience. "That is the worst pain you will ever go through in your life."

"But it's worth it, right?"

"Well, no one could convince you of that at the time. You hurt everywhere, especially in places that should never experience that kind of pain. Then you literally rip apart so this tiny little person can come out. Only they don't feel so tiny and little at the time. I was just about to the point if wishing I would just die….until I heard Isaiah's first cries. Then I was so focused on the pain in my heart over having to give him up that I forgot all about the physical pain my body was in."

"I couldn't imagine life without him," Maureen said with a smile leaning forward to kiss the baby in his mother's arms.

"Me either. I know I am young and I shouldn't have gotten pregnant until I was much older….and married. And I know that if a couple had adopted him he would have had a mother and a father that probably could have given him a lot more than I can provide…."

"But there is no way that they ever could have loved him as much as you do. You had this baby inside of you for all of those months. You know him better than anyone. He is a part of you."

Kathleen smiled as her son grunted.

"The best part of me," she agreed. "And I really need to get him back to bed. I'll bed. I'll be back in a minute and we can watch a movie while we wait."

"I'll make some popcorn," Maureen said with a smile.

"One more big push Olivia," Elliot heard the doctor's voice echo in his mind as he stared through the nursery window.

As many times as he had become a father the moment had not been any less magical this time around. He stood there smiling down as the nurse brought over the little pink miracle who held his last name.

"Welcome to the world angel," he whispered in a sentimental moment with tears in his eyes. "Mommy and I have waited a very long time to meet you."

Elliot wiped a tear from his cheek and smiled as he pressed his forehead against the glass.

"Sir," a nurse said as she held the door open to allow him back on the ward, "your wife is settled into her room if you'd like to see her."

"Yeah," he said with a smile carrying a large teddy bear down the hall toward the room. "How's she doing?"

"Good. The doctor gave her some pain medication after delivery, so she'll probably be tired. We just got your little girl cleaned up and I'll bring her to see mommy in just a few minutes."

"That sounds great. Thank you."

Elliot knocked softly on the door as he pushed it open.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Hi," Olivia whispered batting her tired eyes. "Did you see her?"

"For a moment. They just brought her out into the nursery. We have the best looking kid in the place," he said.

Olivia smiled as he took her hand in his.

"Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Are you hitting on me detective Stabler? I'll have you know I am a very happily married woman," she laughed playfully.

"And your husband is a very lucky man."

"I'm pretty lucky, too."

Elliot leaned in and kissed her tenderly.

"You did great in there. I am so proud of you. And little Mia, too."

"Did you call the kids?"

"I did. I just wanted to call until I knew for sure everything was okay. Kathleen and Maureen were waiting up for the news. They are all going to stop by after church tomorrow to meet Mia."

Olivia smiled.

"And we are gonna miss our own wedding reception. The venue had us scheduled for tomorrow…..well, today now. But I am not looking at discharge until at least Monday afternoon. That is longer than they usually keep women. Mia seems okay. And I told the doctor I am fine, but he is not hearing me. Maybe you could talk to him for me," she suggested batting her pretty brown eyes at him.

"I don't know. It got kind of scary in there for a few minutes. Thank God everything turned out well."

"I'm alright, El. I promise. I felt a little woozy before, but I'm okay now."

"You had an unsafe drop in blood pressure after delivery," the doctor said from the doorway. "I just want to monitor you for a few extra hours and just make sure everything is okay before I discharge you."

"I feel…."

"Fine, I know," the doctor interrupted her. "That's great. And your vitals look really good. I just want to make sure they stay that way."

Olivia looked to Elliot hoping he would speak up in her defense.

"Hey, I'm on his side. Right now the most important thing is that you and Mia are safe and healthy."

"Alright. You're the boss," she finally agreed. "When can I see my baby?"

The doctor smiled and looked over his shoulder as a nurse carried Mia in.

"There she is," he said as the nurse handed the baby girl off to her mother. "Six pounds, four ounces. Nineteen and a half inches long."

"Are you sure everything is okay with her?" Olivia asked nervously.

"She is absolutely perfect."

Olivia smiled.

"Thank God," she replied.

"I'll leave you guys alone," the doctor said heading for the door. "You take it easy and try to get some rest."

"Thank you doctor," Elliot said shaking the man's hand and watching as he left the room. "Liv, I will take care of the reception."

"How are you gonna take care of it? We have already paid. They don't care if we show up or not."

"I'm going to call the place and just tell them I want to reschedule. I will just explain our situation and I am sure they will accommodate us."

"Well what if they don't?"

"Then I will just mention something about taking care of it in court. I am sure they don't want to deal with that. Olivia, they messed up our wedding reception, I don't think they want getting out. It could run their business into the ground. I will just set up a new date and have new invitations sent out."

Olivia smiled in agreement.

"Look at her, El. Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" Olivia asked looking down at the newborn in her arms.

"Every time I look at you," he whispered staring into her eyes.

"My husband the romantic," she whispered as Elliot kissed her.

Elliot watched as Olivia opened Mia's little hand and placed her fingertip in the palm.

"I love you so much, Elliot."

"I love you too, honey."

"But I don't think I really knew the meaning of true love until the moment I first saw her."

Elliot smiled watching the baby curl up her little foot as Olivia ran her finger over each of Mia's tiny little toes.

"She is pretty amazing," Elliot agreed as Olivia handed Mia to her daddy.

Olivia felt her heart melt as her newborn daughter yawned and opened her little eyes to look up at him.

"Hello sweet girl," Elliot cooed, "I'm your daddy. I think she has your eyes, Liv."

"I think they look blue."

"A lot of babies have a bluish tint to their eyes when they are first born. But hers are dark. Much darker than the other kids."

"I knew that we would have a pretty baby, but I had no idea she would be this adorable. And now it really feels like our family is complete."

"It does, doesn't it? Like she was the missing piece to our puzzle."

"Heck of a way to spend our honeymoon," Olivia sighed as she leaned back against her pillow and smiled as Mia make her little newborn noises.

"I couldn't think of a better way," Elliot replied leaning forward to kiss his wife.

"Well, the words lingerie and handcuffs come to mind."

"Ooh," Elliot replied biting his lower lip. "We will have to reschedule that too."

Olivia smiled and laughed.

"About six to eight weeks from now," she added.

"I should take her now," the nurse said as she approached the bed, "and let mommy get some rest. I'll bring her back first thing in the morning and we can work on breast feeding."

"I can't wait," Olivia said sarcastically. "Good night baby doll," she whispered softly as she kissed Mia and handed her back to Elliot.

"Sweet dreams princess, daddy will see you in the morning."

He kissed his baby girl and passed her off to the nurse. He then turned down the lights and was just about to settle into the chair beside the bed when….

"El," Olivia said softly in the darkness.

"Yeah, baby?"

He watched as she smiled a tired smile.

"Can you sleep with me?"

"I would love to, honey. But there isn't much room and I don't want to crowd you."

"I will make room. I mean technically it is still our wedding night, I would at least like to sleep in the same bed as my husband."

Olivia lowered the bedrail as Elliot slid in behind her and closed his arms around her. She yawned as he studied her facial features closely.

"What?" she asked softly as Elliot smiled.

"She has your nose. And chin. Thank you. For giving me our beautiful baby girl."

"Thank you for making all of my dreams come true," she whispered in response kissing him tenderly.

"Get some sleep angel," he whispered softly. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

The next afternoon the children arrived to meet their new baby sister.

"Baby," Eli cooed standing on his tip toes to peek at the bundle in Olivia's arms.

"That is your little sister," Elliot clarified picking the toddler up to get a better look. "She's pretty, isn't she."

"Baby sleep," he said pointing.

"That's Mia," Maureen to Eli as Olivia handed her the baby girl.

"Oh," he replied, his eyes widening as she moved the baby toward him. "That's Mia," he whispered looking back at Olivia's now much smaller belly.

Elliot smiled and took his son into his arms.

"That's right. Mia used to be inside Olivia's belly. And now she is here with us and in a few days your baby sister is coming home with us."

Eli smiled and leaned in to kiss the baby girl.

"Mia, this is your nephew, Isaiah," Kathleen said holding her son next to her baby sister. "That sounds so weird to say."

"Tell me about it," Elliot said scratching his head.

"She looks so tiny next to him," she said.

"Well, he is older and weighs about six pounds more than she does," Elliot reminded her.

"She is so adorable," Maureen said softly.

"Yeah dad, she is way cuter than any of the other babies in the nursery," Elizabeth added.

"Some of them look like aliens," Dickie commented as Elizabeth giggled.

"That isn't polite," Kathleen said giving them a glare. "They can't help that they have to share the nursery with a Stabler baby. We are all just born better looking."

"It is genetic," Elliot added. "You get your ravishing good looks from your dad."

"I don't know, dad. Mia looks more like Olivia," Maureen said smoothing her fingertips over the dark fuzz on the top of the baby's head.

"Yeah, well, you've got me there," he admitted.