Law and Order: SVU is the intellectual property of Dick Wolf. The use of the characters, settings, and plotlines is not malicious. This is a work of fiction.
"How are you feeling?" George Huang twirled a pencil between his fingers, waiting for Olivia's answer. He eyed her suspiciously as her hand traveled down her body to her stomach, coming to rest over her roundness. "Aside from morning sickness and swollen ankles."
She smiled and nodded, and sighed before speaking the words, "I'm fine. Now...I'm perfectly fine." She cleared her throat and said, "When you called this morning, I felt…" she bit her lip and tugged her shirt lower over her small bump. "First I felt guilty. None of this would've happened if I'd just taken my chances with the truth. You know? She's in a jail cell, I'm having a baby with a man who remembers things in mixed-up crossword puzzles, and I'm…"
"Happy about it," Huang laughed, and when he saw her eyes flash in regret, he grew serious. "I didn't mean...Liv, you don't have anything to feel guilty about. You need some sort of proof that this would have all happened even if he didn't take that knock on the head, is that it?"
Silence.
She blinked once and her palm speed over her womb again, sliding around the perfectly round curves of her stomach. "I have the proof," she said, thinking of the letters and stories Nathan had told her, the poem the kids finally recited for her, the affirmations of conviction from Bernie and Serena. "I'm okay with it, I'm happy with it, but...a good woman…" she paused, and she had to think. After her conversations with Nathan and remembered moments with Elliot, maybe Kathy wasn't such a good woman after all. "She wouldn't be in jail if things were different."
"But they're not," Huang shrugged. A self-indulgent, almost arrogant smile played on his lips. "This is life, you need to live it, now that you know…"
"Completely healed," she said, parroting back words Huang had said over the phone a few hour ago. "The doctor said that? One hundred percent? Nothing worse has happened since the last time we've talked?"
Huang shook his head. "He is the healthiest man, both physically and psychologically, that I've ever had the pleasure of clearing for duty." He folds his hands, his pencil clipped between bent knuckles. "You have nothing to worry about, that's coming from not just me, but several doctors...including two surgeons and a neurologist. He's fine, and what he doesn't remember...he never will. His brain is fully functional, he's quick witted and hyper-observant, no sighs of any lax engagement or abnormalities. What's gone is gone, Liv, so now...make new memories together. Ones you'll both have, with your children...and this baby." He points to her belly with his pencil and says, "Name it George."
"Not on your life," she laughs, and for the first time since the phone call that woke her up, she feels her pulse slow and her breathing regulate. "Thanks, George," she whispered, and she rose from the seat, walked over to him, bent over and hugged him.
He closed his eyes and hugged her back, patted her shoulders, and said, "Go. Your husband is waiting for you."
She pulled away and looked down at him. "That still sounds so…" she laughed at herself. "See you later, George." She winked at the man and turned, walked out of his office, and stepped up to Elliot. She handed him a folded bunch of papers, smiling. "All clear," she said. "Give these to Cragen so he can stop trying to ask Tucker to give you a SWAT suit made out of bubble wrap."
He laughed, taking the forms from her, and he kissed her sweetly, his hands immediately guiding themselves to her stomach. "As good as this is, it won't matter for at least a year. I already told Cragen I'm not going out on any calls that could lead to me getting shot, stabbed, or hit in the head." He kissed her again. "I sat behind a desk with the other kids...knowing you were a benched a district away made me feel like I owed it to you to…" he shook his head and kissed her once more. "This time...it's together, I'm not leaving your side."
She laughed and brushed her nose against his. "If you say so," she chuckled. She took his hand and they walked out of the conference room. She pulled again at the hem of her Oxford, huffing at its refusal to cover her stomach completely.
"Well, maybe if you started wearing the closet full of maternity clothes…" he stopped talking. "Don't look at me like that, you know I brought it all down from the attic this morning. Found a lot of onesies and blankets that are still in Damn good condition, too! The beauty of having as many kids as we do, baby, is that we never have to spend much on the next one." He winked at her and kissed her forehead.
She grinned, then, too, admitting to herself that their child deserved to wear the family hand-me-downs just like his or her siblings. She kissed him one last time before moving toward her desk, and as she sat down, she wondered what kinds of clothes Kathy had worn, what would be waiting for her in the closet when she got home. She was about to ask Elliot if he had a favorite top or pair of pants, make the decision easier for herself, but just as her mouth opened, Cragen burst into the room with wildly waving arms and a chilling expression. "Oh no," she uttered. "Cap?"
"You," Cragen stalked toward her with a pointing finger. "I owe you an apology." He exhaled and looked at her more softly than he had in quite some time. "A few of them." He bit the inside of his cheek and nodded once. "I went to see your...Joe Hollister."
Elliot's voice cracked through the air before Olivia could even blink. "You did what? Why? What gave you the right?" He gave a bitter and resentful laugh and said, "Oh, I get it, you've been her father for the last six years but now that we found him you, what, needed to see what you were up against?"
"No," Cragen snapped, fury in his eyes. "I went to ask him why he was digging through your files six years ago!" He heard Olivia gasp and saw the depth of Elliot's eyes change. "Yeah, I needed to know what he was trying to pull."
"And?" Olivia's voice broke, then. "What did...what did he say?"
Cragen turned, stepped up to her, and lowered his voice. "He altered Elliot's records. Made you...at least on every file in the department, every thing that could be linked to your employment records...financially and legally, he made you his wife. Six years ago. He did the same thing in yours, his last act before retiring was trapping you in something…" he sighed, "Something you ended up trapping yourself in, anyway."
She blinked and it hit her, the reason why no one else questioned them. Why their accountant seemed to think their joint filing was a common occurrence, why the credit companies didn't bat an eyelash at her name being on the payment accounts, why her car insurance company asked "which policy" she was referring to when she wanted to add Elliot as a driver. They'd all already assumed she was his wife, thanks to her father and his computer skills. She hummed, then. That's where she got it from, clearly.
"I know...you weren't hiding anything, and I know…" he reached for her hand and took it, only for a moment. Dropping it, he said, "I know how much you love him, and this…" he smiled. "This baby." He couldn't hide the tears springing to his eyes. "You're having a baby."
She nodded, smiling through her own tears, and she held in the cry as Cragen hugged her.
"I'm sorry," he said softly, "So sorry. To both of you." He backed away, cleared his throat, and then turned to look at Elliot. "You asked...here's my answer." He held up one hand. "Interrogations, interviews, and calls when I'm sure it's completely safe," he nodded once. "Both of you." He let out another heavy breath. "You were...you were right, yesterday. I thought about what...what my mistakes were costing me." He felt his throat crack and close. "I don't want to lose you, either of you, and I want to be there for the baby, for your…" he blinked once. "All of your children."
Olivia inhaled, hearing Cragen acknowledge the other kids as partly hers gave her a sense of peace, the freedom to finally relish in her life the way it was now, and would be forever. "Hey, uh, Cap, we…" she pulled on shirt. "We're having a party for the twins, it's two weeks away, but we'd like it if you…"
"I'll be there," Cragen said, turning to her. "For everything," he nodded at her and rubbed his eyes, and then he cleared his throat again before turning around and looking at Elliot. "You met with Huang this morning?"
Elliot nodded and shot out his hand, holding the papers he'd almost forgotten about out for Cragen. "All clear, uh, officially and finally." He folded his arms and said, "I still don't see why you requested another eval, I've been…"
"Reassurance," Cragen interrupted. "For a, uh, a few things." He smiled and then headed for his office, a new reason behind every step. He got the answers he wanted from Hollister, and the satisfaction that Elliot and Olivia had never meant to lie or hide things from anyone. He closed the door, moved toward his desk, and picked up his phone. "Carla? Cragen. I need you to get me a secure line...Rikers." He scratched his head and scraped his teeth over his lip. "Thank you."
He waited and hoped that the million favors owed to him would be paid back, in full, in one fell swoop...tonight.
Peace and Love
Jo
