A/N: "Give me one moment in time, to be more than I thought I could be."
DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. TStabler© owns this story.
Elliot froze, his face reflected understand and confusion at once, and he let out a soft, "What?"
She moved back a bit, her eyes flinching the tiniest bit. "I…yeah," she whispered, looking away from him. "Well, there's nothing wrong with me. I thought…"
"What?" he asked again, still almost silent, the tears in his eyes big and glistening.
"El, please," she sighed, her eyes closing. "Say something besides 'what' or just…go apologize to Kathy and…"
He pulled her into him with such force she yelped. His lips muffled the cry though, the kiss searing and agonizingly emotional. His tears fell onto her cheeks as he held her to him with one hand around the back of her neck. He moaned as his other hand snaked around her back, pressing her against him, getting her as close as possible.
She lost herself in the kiss, relieved that he wasn't upset or angry, her fear at his initial reaction fading. She wrapped her arms around his waist and she let out a soft, barely audible, sigh.
He moved away from her, breathing deep, and rested his forehead against hers with closed eyes. "You're…you're having…we're…my baby. You're having my baby. You, Olivia Benson, are pregnant with my child." It was as if he was trying to convince himself of it, proving it was real."
She slid her hands to his face, brushing the tears away with her thumbs as her palms rested against his stubbled cheeks. "Yeah," she whispered with a soft smile. "I am."
"There is a God," he chuckled, looking up at the ceiling. "A really amazing God."
She shook her head and laughed, and she kissed him softly. "You're happy," she said to him. Her smile brightened when her eyes met his, they were bright and wide, and she said, "You're really happy."
"Happy isn't the word," he said, gripping her hand. "We're…you're…"
She kissed him, stopping his stuttering and sniffling, and she nuzzled his nose with hers for a tender moment. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Liv," he said, his voice so soft it was close to inaudible. He sighed and kissed her forehead, closing his eyes as he let the news sink in fully. He smiled against her skin and then he moved, pulling her toward the doctor.
He apologized for yelling, for blaming him, and then he headed back up to Kathy's room. She looked meek and pitiful when Olivia and Elliot walked in, and before she could say anything Elliot said a rushed, "I'm sorry."
"Wait…you…why?" Kathy asked, confused. She knew she'd been wrong, and wondered why he felt guilty for it.
He sighed and sat on one of the visitor's chairs, and not thinking much of it, he pulled Olivia down onto his lap. His hands subconsciously splayed over her non-existent bump, and he said, "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I said some things I didn't mean, and I didn't think before…everything you've been through, Kath, I shouldn't have turned into the kind of guy you're still afraid of."
"I'm not afraid of you," Kathy said, shaking her head. "And you had every right to yell. I'm the one who should apologize. I knew…I've known for almost two weeks, that I'm gonna be okay. I just…I thought that if you have to care anymore you wouldn't. Neither of you would." She wiped away a falling teardrop and said, "I do honestly love you. Both of you. And you have no idea how confusing it all is for me. I didn't want you to rip it all away from me again."
Elliot took a breath and looked at his ex-wife, just a shadow of the woman he had once loved. "You've got us, Kathy, for life. You're the mother of four of my children; you are part of my family. You're just not my wife anymore, it's different kind of love now. Nothing else changed."
Kathy sniffled and asked, "You mean that?"
Elliot nodded. "Liv and I…we care, Kathy, we're just…"
"You've been crying," Kathy interrupted, sitting up in her bed. "What happened?"
Olivia looked at him and saw his eyes were still slightly red and a bit puffy, and she figured that being married to him for so long had given Kathy the same ability to read him that she had.
Elliot's eyes darted to Olivia's, his hands caressed her stomach, and he said, "I promise, they were happy tears."
Kathy squinted, then the light bulb turned on. "You're having a baby," she said, her voice wavering just slightly. Deep down, part of her wanted Elliot's full attention during her pregnancy. She remembered how loving and tender he was when she had the other kids. "Congratulations," she said, nodding at them.
Olivia was confused. "How did you…"
"It's his eyes," Kathy said, smiling sadly. "He has the same look in his eyes he had when I told him about Kathleen, and the twins." She chuckled and said, "Maureen, though we love her to death, was not a happy surprise."
Elliot scoffed and rolled his eyes. "My God, I thought I was gonna have a heart attack at seventeen."
Kathy laughed. "You kept buying tests, thinking they were all defective," she recalled.
Olivia looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Some things never change," she said snidely
"He wanted you to take another test? He was just as shocked this time?" Kathy asked, laughing a bit.
"He thought it was defective, but it was negative," Olivia said, smiling but not fondly remembering it. "He really wanted it to be wrong."
"We both did," he said to her, caressing her body as she sat on him. "We got what we wanted."
Kathy smiled as she watched Elliot kiss Olivia sweetly, and she felt her heart snap. She didn't know of whom she was more jealous, but she knew that it hurt her to look at them as much as it made her happy. "I told you," she said, breaking the two apart. "You're going to be a wonderful mother, Olivia."
Olivia's eyes moved to Kathy's as her head dropped to Elliot's shoulder. For the moment, everything was perfect, but the thing about moments is they are fleeting. As is perfection.
They'd left the hospital a little after ten, drove home in content silence, and walked into their shared place at ten thirty-five. Elliot moved to the kitchen fast, heating up a cup of coffee for him and some milk for Olivia.
He walked back into the living room with two steaming mugs, and he furrowed his brow when he saw Olivia, her back to him, reading the mall. "What's up?" he asked, seeing the look on her face.
"This letter," she said, holding the paper in her hands. "It's from Munch. His last wife sent it to us, said he'd written it when he found out he had cancer."
He walked over to her, eager to read it, and he set the mugs on the table as he looked at the letter and stood behind her. He knew she hated when he read over her shoulder, but she'd get over it. "Holy…is he serious?"
"It came with a signed letter from a lawyer, El," she said, stunned. "We were in his will, and this is…" she sniffled and shook her head. "I feel like such shit. I didn't know he cared this much about us, or that he even thought to…"
"He wasn't like you and me," Elliot interrupted. "He didn't wear his heart on his sleeve, he didn't like hugs or friendly dinners. What he gave us was who he was, and obviously what we gave back to him was enough to let him know we really cared." He picked up the envelope and pulled out the letter from the lawyer, and he shook his head. "We needed this right now. Liv, this is getting really…"
"Munch always loved a good conspiracy," she said, smirking. She flicked at the letter in her hands, in Munch's handwriting, and said, "Read this part, right here."
He peered over her shoulder again, resting his chin in the crook of her neck, and he read, "I know, if you're reading this, you're together with a family of your own. Hopefully, I've lived to see it happen, but if I haven't, please raise your children to believe in the impossible, to have faith, and to be open minded to the supernatural and the superstitious. You're reading this letter, aren't you? And please, if I haven't met your children, show them pictures, tell them my name, and make sure they know their Uncle Munch, and how much he loves them. Godspeed, Stablers, and you know I'm watching you, always. Love, John."
Olivia sniffled and smiled, chuckling a bit. "He called us…"
"You're a Stabler," he said, holding in the cry of his own. "He knew you would be." He held up the check and the lawyer's letter, and he said, "Do you think Cragen knows?"
She shrugged and wiped her eyes. "I don't know," she said. "All I know is, right now, I want to get in that bed, curl up with my hunky husband, and get some much needed sleep."
"You called me your husband," he said with a smirk. "It still gets to me." He laughed and kissed her forehead, and he had just gave her a nudge toward the mug of milk when his phone rang. "Oh, if this is Cragen I'm not answering. We've been working for…" he looked at the caller ID and froze. "It's Fin."
Olivia waited as he answered the call, and she watched his facial expressions change and twist. "What?" she asked.
Elliot held up a finger and spoke into the phone, "Why didn't you…okay, well I under…I just thought you wanted us…uh, I don't think Cragen will let us both…I'll see what I can do, man, but…okay, yeah. Go. Bye." He hung up and looked at Olivia, confused.
"You didn't really say much," she chuckled.
"He wouldn't let me, he was talking so damned fast," he said, shaking his head. "They just got married."
Her eyes widened. "What?"
"They got on a plane, went to Vegas, and they got married. Some Area 51 themed chapel, with aliens and UFOs and their minister was dressed like Captain Kirk."
"They get a letter from Munch?" Olivia asked, raising an eyebrow.
Elliot laughed. "Fin did, yeah. They want us to fly out and meet them this weekend. Celebrate." He bit his lip and said, "Cragen's gonna flip if we take off…"
"He jipped us out of our weekend," she said, cutting him off. "We still have three days of vacation, and I know Frasier and Lutz from the two-seven owe us a couple of favors. We get them to fill in for us and there's no problem."
"You're serious?" he asked, smirking.
"We have a damn good reason to celebrate, too, El," she said with a smile and a light sigh, folding the letter and putting it back in the envelope with the check Munch had left them.
He wrapped her in his arms and said, "Damn right we do, Mommy." He laughed softly and nuzzled into the crook of her neck as he pushed them toward their bedroom, forgetting about their coffee and milk.
Spontaneity and living in the moment, their personal policy, had been paying off in droves. It was only a matter of time before it all caught up with them, and that time was rushing toward them at full speed. As they slowly undressed and crawled into bed, happier than they'd ever been, it was clear they were too caught up in the moment to notice. Or care.
A/N: So they finally have to face the consequences of their off-the-cuff actions? How? What are they? Review here or on Twitter: TMG212