The next morning, Melissa was overjoyed to find out that her mothers were engaged. In her mind, this meant that they should all stay home, so they could build a living room fort in look at books together. It was much to her dismay that this couldn't happen, so she raised holy hell until Sophia saw off with the nanny. Trollish was the word about Melissa's behavior.

Sophia's mood went in a better direction after she arrived at The Watering Can. After putting her things away and putting on her apron from where she'd left it after her last shift, she headed out into the front area of the store where she was immediately greeted by the florist Novaks. They were always happy to see her, but the enthusiasm was more pronounced than usual, because they all knew about the engagement.

It was a whirlwind of red hair, hugs, and pats on the shoulder, but when the dust had cleared and they'd left, Sophia reached into her apron pockets and noticed something unusual.

"What in the world…?"

From one pocket, she pulled out fistfuls of banknotes, all ranging between five dollars and one hundred dollars. In the other pocket, she found a lot of assorted candy or small trinkets. There was even a small stuffed elephant. Sophia had no idea where any of it had come from.

"You dropped one."

Savannah sidled up to Sophia and tucked a loose ten dollar bill back into her pocket, from where it had fallen to the floor.

"All I did was leave my apron here overnight, by mistake…"

Savannah laughed. "Becoming engaged to my sister might also have something to do with it. You're wondering why your pockets are lined with new things?"

"Yes."

"Usually, it's a man that joins the family, and my parents take him out for drinks. With you being female and pregnant, Senior and Violet changed lanes. They went with what we do at birthday parties." explained Savannah. "It's an old country tradition from Ireland, but in addition to presents at birthday parties, during dinner, the birthday person always receives money from those in attendance that are thirteen and up. The younger kids pitch in by adding candy, and the like, so they aren't left out."

"That's really neat." Sophia remarked.

"We think so, too. My parents just decided to be funny and stuff your apron."

"How did they get everything together so fast, though?"

Savannah became sheepish. "After you and Casey called, my parents and I called Junior, Ellington, Beatrix, Virginia, and Tiffany, and we told them. Everyone was excited, and a boatload of mass texting later, we deiced to do the 'stuff your pockets' thing; according to mom, it's good luck for the newcomer."

"Wow. Did everyone participate?"

"Oh, yes." the other woman winked. "Even your future nieces and nephews."

The weight of that last part hit Sophia like a freight train. "Amanda's kids make me an auntie already, but my number of nieces and nephews just increased, tenfold."

Savannah patted her cheek. "Breathe in, breathe out. You'll be okay, sestra."

Sophia looked at her, recognizing a word in Slovak.

"Doesn't that mean sister?" she asked.

"Very good." Savannah praised. "We've already considered you a sister, but now, we can really say it."

Savannah hugged Sophia, and gave her a friendly back rub.

"We love you, Sophia, and we're so glad that you're part of the family." she pulled a folded piece of paper out of her own apron pocket. "There's a stuffed elephant in there from Scrappy that she just got at a classroom 'yard sale,' or whatever, and she wanted you to have it because she figured out that you love elephants. She also made this for you."

She handed Sophia the paper, and Sophia took it.

"Thank you, Savvy." she said. "I'm going to go put all this away."

Savannah bobbed her head. "Come find me when you're done, and we can make flower garlands."

Agreeing, Sophia took her new gifts to the back room, in the area where everyone kept their personal items. After she put the money, chocolate, and trinkets away, she unfolded the paper.

It turned out to be a very lovely and nicely-drawn picture of herself and the youngest Novak, having a picnic. Touched, Sophia put the picture away, too, and made a mental note to take her pint-sized future sister-in-law out for a fun day, soon.

Sophia was barely in the front room of the shop again when she heard Virginia call for her from the front counter. So she headed her.

"Yes?"

Virginia indicated a man standing at the counter. He was dressed in a bike messenger uniform, and he even had a bike helmet tucked under one arm.

"This is Kyle." Virginia said. "He's a messenger, and apparently, he's looking for you because he's got something for you."

Sophia turned to him. "Hello!"

He bobbed his head and extracted a small square-shaped ring box from the saddle bag he had slung over his shoulder. "I have a delivery here from an Olivia Benson."

"That's my mom." Sophia said in surprise, taking the delivery. "Where do I sign?"

Kyle produced also from his bag, a pen and a clipboard with a delivery confirmation list. After Sophia signed where indicated, Kyle thanked her and gathered up his things. Virginia tipped him as he left.

There was a note attached to the box, and in Olivia's untidy scrawl, Sophia read, 'This was delivered last night, after we came back from the hospital. I sent it awhile ago, for cleaning and sizing, but now it's ready. This ring belonged to my mother, and she gave it to me a few months before she died. Before it was my mother's, it belonged to her mother, Juliana. Now it's yours to give to Casey for an engagement ring, and for her to pass on, one day. It'll fit her when she put it on.

It's time I give you a family heirloom.

Take care.

Mom'

Sophia set the note down and opened the box.

This ring was made of silver, and set in the middle of the band was a circularly-cut diamond that was bordered by smaller stones. It was incredible, not too over-the-top, and very beautiful at the same time.

"Casey's going to love it." Virginia said when Sophia showed her.

"You sure?"

"One hundred percent. My sister loves diamonds."

"Fantastic." Sophia put away the delivery items in her apron pockets. "According to the note my mom put in, the ring was hers, but before that, it was her mother Serena's. Before Nana Serena, it belonged to my great-grandmother, Juliana."

Virginia let out a single-noted high-pitched whistle. "That's amazing. What year did it come to your family?"

Sophia shrugged. "I'll call mom later and ask."

"Alright." Virginia gave Sophia a gentle push to the side of the room, where Savannah was deep in the middle of setting up her garland project. "Please run along, and work with Savvy now. You and I are going to be out on deliveries after lunch."

Sophia nodded in acknowledgement and left to do as she was told.

Hopefully, Olivia's morning was going well, too.


16th PRECINT

966 WEST 88th STREET

MANHATTAN


Unfortunately, Olivia's morning was tanking out from beneath her.

Bella Carisi was still totally in the wind, and just before nine o'clock, Olivia and the squad were beset upon by most of the other missing victims' friends or family. Absent only were Carisi Senior and Solomia. They were at the hospital, watching over Aria. She was due to be discharged soon, and she was going to be released to her grandparents until she could be reunited with her mother.

It took Olivia and the others awhile to interview everybody, but once they had and sent everyone home, the squad compared notes.

This was how they came to realize that most of the victims had a Brighton Beach connection. What stumped them was that they had no specific way to connect Bella or Dana to the area. But at least it was a start.

While Olivia and the team gathered at the media center and tried to come up with a plan of action, she received a call.

"Benson." she said in greeting when she picked up.

"It's Jane." came the voice of Doctor Larom.

Olivia put a hand over her heart. Another cog in her bad morning was finding out that baby Serena had had a seizure already, and nobody but Doctor Larom was available to got visit her. The only silver lining was that after a call to Trevor, Olivia had been given emergency custody of Serena. This meant that nobody could take her, and she could rest comfortably while she recovered from being sick. She would also be at the hospital later on.

"She hasn't gotten any worse, and the fever is coming down. I just came from checking on her." Larom promised. "Actually, we just had a new patient come in. You and your partner are going to want this one; I have an odd feeling that this is connected to whatever the SVU is investigating at the moment."

Olivia wrinkled the bridge of her nose. "Anything that Detective Rollins and I should be prepared for?"

"We have a teenage girl named Harper Bailey, and she's in her second trimester of pregnancy, pushing the third, but that's about all we've been able to get. She also looks like she's gotten the tar beaten out of her."

"Oh, my God. Any news about the baby?"

"No. Harper won't let us touch her, and she started freaking out at the idea of a rape kit. I'm not even sure how old Harper is; late teens to early twenties would be my guess." the doctor sighed. "She actually started asking for you, but won't say why."

Well, that's a twist, Olivia thought. "I understand. How bad is it?"

"She's a street kid, but let's just say that I'm surprised she didn't go into premature labor."

Olivia ran her fingers through her hair. "Detective Rollins and I will be on the road shortly."

Larom expressed her thanks and hung up.

When Olivia hung her phone up and pocketed it, she saw Fin returning from taking a call of his own.

"What was your call about?" Olivia asked him.

"A dead prostitute by Wall Street; she's been seen around Brighton Beach. Before that, my old turf in Brooklyn."

As the man's old stomping grounds had been mentioned, Olivia made a sweeping motion with her arms.

"Go, but take Elliot and Carisi. Report back, ASAP."

With reassurances that they would, the men hurried off.

Amanda looked to her mentor. They were the last ones left.

"I guess we're going to Mercy?" she asked.

Olivia nodded. "Yep. I'll explain on the way."