Fate
Chapter 6: And Awe
"Where are you?" Olivia asked Barba as she paced in the lobby.
"Uhhhh, still trying to find the daycare why?" Barba commented into his phone.
"Turn around, bring Oliver back," Olivia demanded. She was frustrated and angry. She was a mother, and a decorated detective of more than 30 years, and yet, she had been tricked by two 8 year old boys.
"Alright, see you in a minute," Barba agreed before hearing the dial tone.
EoEoEoEoEoEoEoEoEoEoEoEoEoEoEoE
Less than five minutes later Barba found Olivia wandering around the lobby, wringing her hands, her head swivelling all around, when her gaze finally landed on him.
"There you are!" Olivia exclaimed. As gently as she could she grabbed Oliver's hand and pulled them off to the side.
Olivia crouched down in front of the mirror image of her young son. She took a deep breath before she spoke, "Oliver, I'm going to ask you some questions and I promise no matter what you say, I'm not going to get angry with you okay?"
Barba furrowed his brows wondering what the hell had happened when he left her.
"Okay…" Oliver nodded hesitantly.
"When you and Noah planned this today, nobody told your Dad did they?" Olivia inquired softly.
Oliver shrugged, "Well no…." he trailed off, staring at the ground.
Olivia sighed, "Your Dad doesn't know you switched places does he?"
"Um nope," Oliver whispered shyly.
"Oliver…" Olivia grumbled, "Why?"
"I thought he'd be mad and I wasn't sure he'd show up if he knew," Oliver confessed, his bottom lip trembling.
Olivia tipped his chin up, his eyes glistening as he tried not to cry.
"Please don't cry, what you two pulled off is not alright, so I'm not going to tell you it was, but I understand why you did it, your father isn't the most level headed man, and he might be angry with you, but mostly he'll just be happy you're safe," Olivia explained tenderly.
Oliver nodded wiping his eyes.
"What now?" Barba asked as Olivia stood but her response was interrupted before she could respond.
"Olivia?!" Elliot gasped, he had run down the stairs, Monique trailing a few steps behind him.
Olivia gave him a tight smile as she turned to face the couple, "Stabler, Jeffries?" she nodded at the woman, "Long time no see."
"Olivia you look amazing!" Monique confessed.
"Thank you," Olivia replied, "It's been a minute."
There was an awkward silence, Barba couldn't help noticing the tension between the two ex partners. The situation was broken by Oliver clearing his throat.
Elliot seemed to snap out of his trance, "Oliver? What are you doing out here? I left you at the daycare!" He scrunched his brows and cocked his head to the side, "Did you change your clothes? I swear you weren't wearing that earlier…"
Oliver looked up at Olivia as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "About that…" Olivia began speaking but was abruptly cut off.
"Oliver do you know who this woman is?" Elliot asked curiously, not understanding why his son was so comfortable with his ex partner.
"Yep this is Olivia, she's your old partner and she's Noah's Mom," Oliver explained.
Elliot didn't understand what was happening but was even more shocked by the news that his previous partner was now a mother.
"I-wha-who's Noah?" Elliot stuttered confused.
"My brother," Oliver shrugged.
Elliot swayed slightly, overcome by seeing Olivia again, and his son now declaring he had a brother.
"Oliver, buddy, you're not making sense, Richard and Eli are your only brothers."
"Nu-uh," Oliver argued.
"If I could interrupt, Oliver has been staying with me since coming home from dance camp-" Olivia started to explain again, however Elliot interrupted once more.
"What the hell are you guys talking about he's been with me all week!" Elliot yelled frustrated, running his hands over his head.
"No actually you've had my son, Noah."
"Wh-I think I know what my own son looks like," Elliot argued.
Olivia nodded, "I have no doubt you do. Oliver's adopted yes?" she said squeezing his son's shoulders.
"What the hell does that have to do with anything, he's still my son!" Elliot exclaimed.
"No you misunderstand me, you found him? Rescued him?"
"I…yes how'd you know that?" Elliot asked slowly.
"Because I came upon Noah on a case as well, and after fostering him for a year I was allowed to adopt him, I take it you don't know much about Oliver's birth parents?" Olivia pressed.
"Dunno shit about them, they don't matter, he's my son!" Elliot stated firmly.
"Nobody is arguing that fact, what we're trying to explain to you is…Oliver's a twin, an identical twin to be more precise. Noah and Oliver are brothers," Olivia spoke slowly, hoping her ex partner was soaking in the information she was providing.
"I-wha-no…I need to sit down," Elliot declared, moving to sit on a cluster of chairs and sofas in the lobby.
The group all walked over to sit in the small area.
"Dad, Noah and I met at camp, we were sharing pictures of our parents when I recognized Olivia in his picture. We realized we were twins, it was kinda hard not to, anyways I knew Olivia from all the pictures you've showed me of her over the years and the ones you kept around our house," Oliver explained, as Barba and Olivia both noticed Elliot's blush. "And I always wanted to meet her, so we decided to switch places, but once you mentioned Cal-"
"Stop! Hold on," Elliot interrupted. "So you're telling me, you, my son Oliver, have an identical twin brother who you met at camp and you thought it was a good idea to swap places with him to get to know a perfect stranger?"
Oliver bent his head and stared at the ground, as Olivia rubbed his small shoulders.
"If I may interject," Barba finally spoke up, "Both boys are completely safe, nothing bad happened and you really can't blame them for being curious-"
"Who the hell are you?" Elliot grunted.
Olivia opened her mouth to respond but Barba's quick tongue beat her to it.
"Olivia's boyfriend, Rafael Barba, ex-ADA for Manhattan SVU," he replied smiling brightly and grasping Olivia's spare hand with his.
Olivia and Oliver snapped their heads to the side, staring at Barba in wonderment.
Elliot scoffed, "Yeah well unless you're Noah's Dad, then you really have no say in this conversation."
Olivia scrunched her brow angrily, "Don't talk to him like that, he was just trying to make a point."
"Fine whatever," Elliot groused throwing his hands in the air, "Where is your son anyways?"
Olivia huffed, "Well that depends, where'd you leave him?"
"Where'd I?" Elliot stammered confused. "You mean, Noah, I've had your son all week? So then… it was Noah I left at the daycare?"
Oliver nodded.
"I have a headache," Elliot complained.
"If I may, it sounds like you guys still have a conference to attend. So why don't we go get Noah and you can put your real son into daycare? Maybe once you've had some time to digest all this information then you and Olivia can have an actual conversation about how to go on from here, because arguing right now isn't going to accomplish anything," Barba explained calmly.
Elliot nodded, "Yeah, you're right, come on Oliver," Elliot stood, holding out his hand.
The group of five made their way to the daycare, it took little time to find it with Elliot leading the way.
Oliver turned to Olivia outside the room. "When will I see you again?" he asked, he had grown quite fond of his Dad's ex partner in the past week.
Olivia bent down on one knee, "I don't know when but I'm sure we'll see each other again."
"Promise?" he whispered in a timid voice.
"I promise Oliver," Olivia glanced up at Elliot, staring into his eyes she stated in a hard firm tone, "And I don't make promises I can't keep."
Elliot grimaced and broke her gaze, staring at the floor, "Oliver buddy, I won't keep you from seeing Noah and Olivia okay?"
Oliver nodded and flung his small body into Olivia's, hugging her tightly.
Elliot couldn't help but notice the connection they had. He found it rather odd since Oliver never seemed to get very close to any of the women in his life.
Elliot walked over to the receptionist to check out his "son" Oliver. Not a minute later Noah came bounding towards them. Throwing himself at his mother and Oliver who were still embracing.
Elliot stumbled backwards, shocked at seeing the two twins together in the same space. Olivia was right. They were identical. Aside from their clothes. They had the same hair, the same skin, the same eyes and goofy smiles.
Olivia kissed Oliver's forehead after one last goodbye, standing to give the boys a moment alone.
Slowly she approached Elliot who seemed shell shocked. "So…"
Elliot snapped out of his funk, "I'll ummmm be in touch."
"Hmmm, see that you do," Olivia replied watching her young son hug his brother goodbye.
"Uh you still have the same number?" Elliot asked, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
Olivia smiled as Noah approached her, "I've missed you my sweet boy!"
"Me too Mom!" Noah declared happily embracing her.
As Olivia, Noah and Barba turned to leave Olivia glanced back at Elliot, "It hasn't changed."
She didn't wait for a response as Elliot simply nodded. He watched her retreat, unable to help himself he let his eyes slip to her backside, smirking to himself when he realized she hadn't lost it. Her wit, her spitfire attitude, or her figure. His thoughts were interrupted by his son tugging on his hand.
"Yeah let's get the real you checked in, we'll talk more when we get home buddy," Elliot supplied to a nervous Oliver.
Ten minutes later Elliot found himself back in an elevator with Monique who had been oddly quiet up until that point.
"So, uh Olivia?" Monique asked quietly.
"Yep, Olivia," Elliot agreed, although he wasn't quite sure what he was agreeing to.
A/N: Hmmm what next? And what about their trip to the Poconos? And California? Review if you like.