Chapter 24 : Detective Amaro
Monday mornings usually brought the busyness of early morning daycare drop off and then school in the Benson household. It usually meant Olivia had to be up before 6am, if Chloe didn't wake earlier than that, to get organised for the day before Chloe woke. Then Olivia would have to run around and get Chloe organised. However, this Monday morning was a little bit different. Olivia wasn't going to school today and Chloe wasn't going to daycare like usual. Olivia had received a call yesterday evening from Detective Amaro, asking her to come down to the precinct to discuss the case further as apparently there was new information that needed to be discussed in person. So, Olivia was going to head down to the precinct this morning and Alex would look after Chloe. Olivia had mentioned she might head into school this afternoon but the school had booked a casual teacher to cover her class for the whole day so Olivia didn't desperately need to head in. She would make the decision after her meeting on whether she would go or not. Olivia had been off school at the end of last week after the attack but hopefully one more day wouldn't hurt.
Olivia woke up when Chloe woke for the day and they spent time just relaxing in her bedroom rather than heading out to the living room to make sure they didn't wake Alex. Olivia loved spending time like this with just her little girl, reading and playing together. Olivia couldn't believe that it was only going to be a matter of months till Chloe was 2 years old. Olivia really didn't know whether this time had gone. It was almost the middle of October now and it really seemed like only yesterday that Chloe was about to be 1. There was nothing Olivia loved more than being a mother and she placed Chloe over everything else in her life. She knew that there were things her daughter may not have in her life which other children do, due to situations that had happened. But there were things that Olivia was prepared to do about that.
"No sool?" Chloe asked as she looked up at her mother.
"Nope, I'm not going to school today and neither are you. I have to go to a big meeting though so you're going to hang out with Aunty Alex today" Olivia replied, explaining the day to her little girl.
"Momma stay" Chloe tried to protest which took Olivia a little by surprise. Chloe had never been a particularly clingy baby or suffer from separation anxiety but now Chloe seemed to not want Olivia go.
"I can't sweetheart. I have to go and see a nice policeman for a while. But you'll be with Aunty Alex and you'll have a great day. How about we go see if she's awake now?" Olivia asked, trying to redirect her little girl's attention, she didn't want to deal with the tears right now.
"Al asdasdj see mony?" Chloe asked, she was still learning how to string words together and sometimes Olivia had to decode her baby babble with what it was she might be asking.
"No honey, we can't go see the monkeys again today" Olivia replied as they walked through the living room to Alex's bedroom.
"I wan money!" Chloe tried to protest.
"We saw the monkeys yesterday but if you're really good for Aunty Alex today, we might get to see the ducks this afternoon" Olivia convinced the little girl.
"Duckie!" Chloe squealed in excitement right before Alex opened the bedroom door and surprised both of them, clearly, she was already awake.
Elliot followed Elizabeth through the big school gates. He'd cleared his morning schedule from the meetings and other plans as he wanted to make sure he could take the twins to school. Today was their first day back since the attack and he wanted to make sure that they were ok. It would also be Olivia's first day back since the attack and he wanted to check on her as well. In fact, he had even done a typical 'teacher's pet' style move and brought her an apple, just to put that beautiful smile of hers on her face. The last time he saw her in the classroom, they were in such a different place to what they were now. Especially after this past weekend. However, he felt proud of the way things had changed and he felt excited for the future and everything which lay ahead for them. Elliot had to admit that seeing Olivia in a professional position like the classroom would be a challenge in this new relationship, when he knew how much he wanted to kiss her. Thankfully this morning, they would have the likely welcome distraction of Elizabeth. But what they weren't expecting, was for Olivia not actually to be in the classroom when they arrived.
"Good morning" A short, blonde-haired woman greeted the pair as Elizabeth walked to the doorway.
"Where's Miss Benson?" Elizabeth asked, completely ignoring the greeting from this unfamiliar woman.
"Elizabeth, that's not how we respond when someone says hello" Elliot tried to reprimand his daughter. He wasn't big on etiquette as such, but he always made sure that his children were raised with manners and Elizabeth wasn't exactly being nice right now. He was surprised that Olivia wasn't here, he thought that she was coming back to school today as well. But he wouldn't let his daughter be rude towards another teacher like this, all because her favourite teacher wasn't here.
"I'm sorry, good morning…where is Miss Benson?" Elizabeth tried again as the teacher came over to her but Miss Anderson beat her to it.
"Miss Benson had to do some really important things this morning, she told me she might be in this afternoon but for now, this is Mrs Davies and she's going to be teaching us today" Miss Anderson explained to Elizabeth.
"It's so lovely to meet you" Mrs Davies greeted Elizabeth, from over near the board.
"Now, when I spoke with Miss Benson this morning, she told me that today might be a little bit scary for you and she wanted to be here to help. But if you are feeling scared or sad at all today, you come and tell me ok and I'll help you through it" Miss Anderson said to which Elliot smiled, thinking of how even though she wasn't here today, Olivia had thought of everything. She always did.
Elliot knew that Elizabeth would be ok and he knew that there were going to be people looking out for her at school and he would be back to pick her up this afternoon.
"Alright sweetie, I have to go now, do you think you'll be ok? I will be here to pick you up this afternoon and you can tell me all about your day on the way to dance?" Elliot asked as he bent down by the door.
"Ok, bye daddy" Elizabeth ran over to give her father a hug goodbye and he pressed a kiss on the top of her head before leaving her to help Miss Anderson with preparing for the day.
Detective Amaro was waiting for Olivia as she walked into the precinct, he greeted her before she even made it up to the desk sergeant and the pair made their way back through the doors, heading towards one of the interview rooms where they could talk. Olivia wasn't entirely sure why she was even here right now, as she had thought the case was finalised now Dani was in custody and they had evidence to support the attack. But when Detective Amaro had called yesterday, she knew clearly something was up.
"So I know you're wondering why we called you in here?" Detective Amaro started as they entered the conference room and Olivia took a seat near the table.
"You could say that, I thought you had everything you would need and the charges were pretty clear?" Olivia queried.
"Well they were…until they weren't. Dani is going to fight the charges against her, claiming mental insanity as her defence to why she hit you and threatened the children of Mr Stabler" Detective Amaro explained and Olivia had to admit, she was a little confused as to why Dani was going to do all of this.
"So, what does that mean moving forward?" Olivia asked.
"Well firstly, she wants to talk to you. We have her in custody up north and she's requesting to speak with you, to explain everything. But with her fighting the charges, there is now a high change that it will go to court rather than settling out of court" Detective Amaro continued to explain. Dani was not only fighting the charges against her now, but she wanted to talk with Olivia? Olivia wanted nothing to do with her and she really didn't want to go.
"If I go and see her, could we avoid court?" Olivia asked, she really didn't want to go through a whole court situation if she could help it. She'd been there once before with Brian and that had been hard enough.
"Possibly, it would depend on what she really has to say and if there can be some kind of agreement made. We have sent our ADA to meet with her and her lawyer to discuss the charges, and see if we can make a deal. However Dani is saying that she won't discuss anything with that until she's met with you and only you" Detective Amaro explained and Olivia didn't know what to do. She knew that to avoid going to court, she would have to go and visit Dani. Olivia wanted to do anything to avoid going to court, to keep Elliot's children away from that whole situation, so she had to go and see Dani.
"I guess I'll have to go and see her then. Can we do it today?" Olivia asked, she was desperate to get it over and done as soon as possible.
"Unfortunately, no. We have to arrange your visit with the prison and it can't be done today, however I'm fairly confident we can get you in tomorrow if you're sure you want to go"
"Yes, lets do that…the sooner I can get this over with the better. There have been too many people hurt in all of this and I just want it done with"
"Alright, I will arrange for you to meet with Dani at the prison hopefully tomorrow or later this week. I'll call you again with the details when I have done that and they have been confirmed. If there is some kind of deal that can be made with Dani, after seeing you, then this case won't go to court" Detective Amaro explained to which Olivia thanked him for the assistance before Detective Amaro escorted her out. There were a few steps which needed to be made next and Olivia now had to decide whether she would tell Elliot about all of this or not. She already knew that Elliot would be wondering where she was if he'd taken the twins to school this morning like he'd intended to. She had to admit, she was surprised she'd not heard from him yet.
Olivia hated the fact that so much of this was starting to relate to her past, she wanted to avoid court as much as she could because of court. But if she explained that to Elliot, she would have to mention her past and that was a whole conversation. There was so much of that which she knew that Elliot would judge her about, she wouldn't want to be with her when he truly knew how much she had been through and how Chloe had come into the world. She had fled to New York for a fresh start and she could see that with Elliot, she wanted to see where things with him were going to go but she hoped that she could keep him in the dark about her past for now. She knew that Elliot would judge her with her relationship with Brian and he could never love a damaged woman like her. Despite how strong Olivia may feel she is, she was a damaged woman and she knew the minute she told Elliot about her past, he would walk away. They had only been together for a couple of days and they were taking things slowly, but something just felt different with Elliot. Olivia hated the thought that she would lose Elliot over this. So maybe she didn't have to tell him.
A/N: Dani wants to meet Olivia in prison? Is Olivia not going to tell Elliot about this? Or will she decide that he does need to know? Hmm well I guess you'll have to wait and see in the next chapter. Let me know what you thought about this chapter in the reviews! I love reading what you thought and where you think the story will go next. Thanks for reading and caring about my writing.
Until Next Time :D
