Sorry I've been MIA! It should be a little better this week!


There was a ringing silence as Beth Anne and the rest of the family processed Amanda's shocking pronouncement.

Blue broke the quiet first. "Huh. I already had a special feeling about you, Sophia, and you're already my friend, but you really are family now. It's a little strange, but you get used to it."

Then Kim introduced herself. "I'm Kim. It's nice to meet you."

Not knowing about Kim's previous interactions with the squad, Sophia returned her greeting in kind. Kim's politeness, however, threw Olivia for a loop, because as she recalled, Kim was wily and self-absorbed. Maybe it was the medication for her bipolar disorder, or maybe it was a change of heart after moving back down to Georgia. Either way, Olivia was sure that she could come around to the newer, calmer Kim.

Her kindness, however, seemed to unfreeze Beth Anne, who had been the most dumbstruck of all.

"Floyd-William Enos was your father?" she asked Sophia.

"Yes, but I really didn't know until a few minutes before you all arrived." Sophia answered, stopping herself at the very last moment from adding, "m'am" at the end because Beth Anne's regality seemed to command it.

"And your mother is Lieutenant Benson?"

"Uh-huh." Sophia was getting wary because Beth Anne was probing her with her eyes.

The matriarch then locked eyes with Olivia, shooting daggers at her with her eyes; it was with a sneaky feeling that Sophia thought Beth Anne was already trying to figure out how to ask her age, while also feeling something like anger.

To Olivia's surprise, Kim stepped forward, inserting herself between her and Sophia, as a buffer between them and Beth Anne.

"We can play connect the dots later, but lay off the lieutenant, and my sister, okay, mama?" she said to Beth Anne. "We don't even know why Amanda has called us here."

Realizing that she had a point, Beth Anne simmered down and looked to her firstborn again. "Why are we here?"

"I'll tell you in a minute, but first," she looked towards Elliot, Fin, and Carisi. "Why are you all still here?"

They technically weren't needed, but it was clear that they were hanging around on purpose.

"Because," Carisi said, cheekily. "We want to know everyone's names."

Realizing that between the three amigos and the Bensons, nobody had still met her family in its entirety, Amanda motioned to each member of the Rollins-Balthazar clan in turn, saying, "My little cousins aren't here, but right now we have my sister, Kim, my mom, Beth Anne, and her husband, Benoît, my aunt, Blue Balthazar, and her husband, Zoltan."

After the rest of the greetings were exchanged, Olivia shooed Elliot, Fin, and Carisi back to their desks and then closed the door behind them. She watched as everyone figured out new places to sit, and spoke when she had everyone's attention.

"For those of you who don't know, I'm Lieutenant Olivia Benson, and I run the Special Victims Unit. We also have ADAs Alex Cabot and Casey Novak, who are attached to the SVU and overseeing the case." (Olivia waved a hand in indication to them) "Sophia is my daughter, and Floyd-William Enos is father's name, but neither of us knew until today. Amanda found out today, too, and she helped me put the clues together. Anyone who has questions should come see me in my office or call me, okay? Don't bother Sophia or Amanda about it, please." Olivia began. "I realize that this is all highly unusual and that some serious bombs have been dropped, which means that in some unorthodox ways, everyone in this room is family now. It's a lot to process, and I'm still working on it, but I need the newcomers to really pay attention."

There was a general murmur of agreement and there was complete silence now.

"I am so sorry to have to say this, but we found Floyd-William dead today. It looks like he drove up here from Atlanta, and we're still trying to figure out why he was here, but for now, we need to know if any of you have contact with him recently. Any at all."

"I never met him." Benoît said. "I've never cared to, not after what he did to my girls."

He looked to Zoltan.

"Have you ever met him?"

Zoltan Balthazar shook his head. "No, not after the stories I've heard from Blue, Beth, and Kim."

Noticing the connectivity between Benoît and Zoltan, Olivia stepped towards them. "Do you two work together at Penguin Publishing?"

"We do, and we've been friends for many, many years now." said Zoltan. "Benoît is the president, and I'm the Vice President—this is why my family has just moved up here from Georgia."

"Thank you, Zoltan."

Olivia walked to Kim, who was sitting one her uncle's right.

"Be honest with me, Kim: have you seen your father at all since he left?"

"No. I remember the day he left, like it was yesterday… I was just too little to want to know where he'd gone. I may have done bad things, lieutenant, but I don't associate with people like my bio-dad anymore." Kim pointed to Benoît. "He has been as good as my father since he came into our lives."

Convinced, Olivia looked to Blue, on Benoît's other side. She didn't even have to say anything, and Blue had an answer already.

"Once a jackass, always a jackass—I haven't seen Floyd-William since that day, either, and I've never bothered finding out where he went."

"Thank you."

Olivia circled back to Beth Anne, who also answered immediately.

"I've not seen hide nor hair of that dumb son of a gun since he broke my arm in front of the girls and stole my money."

"So you have no idea why he'd come all the way up here from Atlanta?"

"Not-a one, but I promise you that for once, nobody will be difficult for you and your squad. We just want to put this behind us as quickly as possible. You have the family's whole cooperation."

"Thank you. That means a lot."

Beth Anne just grew pensive, so Benoît gave her a gentle nudge.

"Speak up." he said in a gentle, encouraging voice.

Beth Anne looked to Olivia again. "My ex was always on the lookout for any good liquor or drugs. Always. I don't care where he was found, and we'll just cremate him when all is said and done, but if you have a 'seedy part of town,' I would ask around over there."

"Thank you. We'll do that."

Olivia moved back and surveyed the room.

"Does anyone have anything else to ask?"

Everyone shook their heads or said no.

"Alright, then." Olivia opened the room door again and indicated that the meeting was over. "Everyone is free to go."

Benoît turned to Sophia. "I don't know what all you've heard about the family, dear, but I would like to start things off on the right foot, by extending you an invitation to the gala tonight."

"Oh, wow," was all Sophia said, because she hadn't been expecting that at all.

"Would you like to come?" Benoît asked.

"Of course! Thank you!"

"You can even bring a date."

Sophia turned to Casey. "Will you be my date tonight?"

The redhead nodded. "You bet."

"Excellent!" Benoît chirped. "Come along, and we'll make arrangements!"

He helped up first his wife, and then Sophia, Casey, and Alex, the latter of whom was having a small struggle because she was being weighed down by a fidgety, gestating baby. Olivia and Amanda brought up the rear.

"I promise I come from a family of people who care." Amanda said as she navigated her wheelchair along the hallway. "My bio-dad is just a taboo subject."

"Believe me, Amanda," Olivia said, slowing down to move at the pace the younger woman was moving. "I more than understand. How about you go say goodbye to your family and then go hatch a plan with Elliot, Fin, and Carisi about going towards the Lydia Motel?"

Amanda nodded and gave her CO a "Copy that!" before heading off.

Olivia then caught up with Sophia.

"Everything all good?" she asked her.

"Uh-huh. Amanda's stepdad has insisted that I call him Benoît, and when it's time, he's going to send a car to collect Casey first, and then one for me, at eight."

"Where's the gala?"

"The Rainbow Room—it's a fundraising event for the publishing house."

"Did you get something swanky during your shopping expedition with Casey?"

Sophia smirked as a certain dress popped into her brain. "Oh, yes."

"Excellent." Olivia smiled at her. "And of course we'll take care of Melissa and put her to bed."

"Thanks, mom."

"Are you going back to work?"

"I am. The Rollinses still have things to do with Blue and Zoltan, but The Watering Can in on the way to where they have to go, so they're giving me a lift."

"Well, that's nice of them. Don't forget to call Violet."

"Already done." Sophia tapped the pocket of her jacket, where her phone was. "I'll see you after work."

"Yes." Olivia gave her a hug and then a gentle push towards the elevators. "See you later, kid."

When they were gone, Casey and Alex flanked Olivia.

"There isn't anything for us to do because there aren't any leads, except for the Reagan Turner girl, but she has yet to be located." said Alex. "We're going to go back to our building now."

"Got it."

Casey glanced over at the media center. "They're definitely cooking something up over there, though."

"I'll check on them, but first…"

Olivia and Alex rounded on Casey, eyebrows raised. Casey automatically took a step back.

"What?"

"You're going with our oldest kid to a fancy gala." said Olivia, hands on her hips. "I know this just fell out of the sky, but you better be good to her!"

"Or else!" Alex tacked on for good measure.

Casey laughed nervously. "Come on, you guys—it's not like I haven't taken Sophia on a date before!"

"Yeah," Olivia sassed. "But this is the first formal one."

"So do you want me to have her home by midnight, and go find a shoe, should she lose one?"

"Yes. Exactly."

Casey gave a bow. "Your wish is my command."

Olivia softened up. "Have fun, though."

"Thanks. We will."

"We can't wait to hear all about it." Alex added with a wink.

Blushing, Casey left soon after, Alex on her heels.

About fifteen minutes later, while Elliot, Fin, and Carisi were out pounding the pavement, Amanda was left to her own devices. After taking one phone call in particular, though, she found herself knocking on Olivia's open door.

"Lieutenant," Amanda said. "Can we talk for a minute, just mama to mama?"

"Sure, Amanda." Olivia beckoned her in. "Come on in."

Finally back on her forearm crutches again, Amanda made her way over and sat in one of the chairs opposite Olivia's desk, facing her.

"What's on your mind?" Olivia wanted to know.

"I just got a call from the babysitter, and long story short, she won't be able to mind Jesse for us tonight."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?"

"Would there be any way that you and Alex would consider watching her for us? We'll keep Frannie home, since you and Noah are allergic to her."

"Sophia is, too, actually, but Alex and Melissa would be fine." Olivia laughed. "I want to spend some time with my godbaby, anyway, but Alex and I can totally watch her. In fact, I'll be out of here at five, so tell Dominick to drop her off at six-thirty, so you guys can get ready in peace. Don't worry about pay, either."

Amanda smiled gratefully. "Thank you, so much."

"You're so welcome." Olivia said. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Okay."

"Are you and Dominick officially together?"

Amanda turned a slight shade of red. "Uh-huh. We have been, actually, since Jesse was almost a month old. Do you think that IAB will come down on us for it, now that Tucker is gone and there's been a change in administration? I don't know much about Constantine Kemper, except that people call her Mad Dog."

"First, 'Mad Dog' is just a nickname, and second, Constantine Kemper is very normal and friendly. She's also of the 'if you don't do anything stupid, I won't bother you' mindset."

Amanda breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

"You really love Dominick, huh?"

"He's my best friend, and I'd do anything for him, just like he's always done anything for me." Amanda smiled the smile of someone deeply in love. "He's the love of my life, Olivia, and I want to marry him."

"That's really special, Amanda. I hope it happens."

Amanda beamed. "Thanks."

"Do you need anything else?"

"No." Amanda stood and repositioned her crutches again. "I'll tell Dominick the game plan for tonight when he comes back, but I'll go back to my desk and be on standby for the guys."

"Good plan. Let me know if anything comes up?"

"Of course, lieutenant."

Olivia smiled at her as she left and then picked up her phone to call Alex.

They really hadn't had any plans for the night, as it was, but Alex had lately been expressing the desire to hold babies who were smaller than Melissa and Noah.

A few hours with Jesse Rollins was going to make her very happy.