AN: Hello my lovely peeps! I have to admit, I struggled with this one. I rewrote this a few times, but ultimately chose to go with what I had originally written. I don't see Kathy as an evil person, so if you were expecting more of that I sincerely apologize. I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading!

"I don't understand why she'd lie about her cancer. Who does that?" Elliot said as he paced the length of Olivia's bedroom. "I married a psycho" He sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed. He heard her inhale sharply, watching as she clutched her stomach. She hadn't been feeling well since their conversation outside of the precinct, and she insisted that she'd fine once she laid down. He wasn't so sure of that right now.

"Liv, are you sure you're okay?" He asked, gently placing his hand on her foot.

"Crampy" She mumbled when another one hit. Before he could ask anything else she was up and running down the hall to get to the bathroom. He followed her, crouching down on the floor next to her to hold her hair while she heaved. Although he wasn't squeamish, hearing her lose the contents of her stomach made him gag. She stayed hunched over the toilet even when she was done, trying to muster up enough energy to stand. Elliot went and got her a glass of water, telling her to take small sips.

"I won't be able to keep it down" She groaned.

"You have to try" Elliot said, reaching out to hand her the glass. He noticed how bad her hands were shaking when she tried to grab the glass. "Have you been able to keep anything down today?" He asked as she took a sip.

She shook her head, immediately regretting the movement. Elliot took the glass from her as another round of vomiting started. The second round was significantly shorter than the first since her stomach was already empty.

"Is it like this everyday?" He asked as he rubbed her back in small circles.

"Pretty much" She groaned.

"I think we should call your obstetrician" He suggested. He had seen some wicked morning sickness throughout Kathy's pregnancies, but never this bad. Olivia couldn't even drink water without it coming back a few minutes later. She rolled her eyes, pulling herself up into a standing position. She swayed a bit, but quickly steadied herself by putting her hand against the wall.

"I'm fine, Elliot" She insisted, slowly making her way over to the sink so she could brush her teeth. "You were saying something about marrying a psycho? Which she isn't a psycho" She reminded him, hoping to change the subject. "We went over it earlier. She lied to me because she knows that I already feel awful for what happened, if she found a way to make me feel worse she could get me to do anything she wanted".

"I know, but to lie about cancer just to get you to transfer? That's insane" He said as he watched her struggle to grab her toothbrush, dropping it in the sink, twice. "Liv, maybe you should just skip brushing your teeth for now" He suggested as he stood up. "Let's get you back in bed". He helped her into bed, chuckling when she pulled the blanket up over her frame and immediately shrugged it back off. He went back into the bathroom to grab her water and put it on her nightstand. "I'm sorry that this is all happened. I thought what happened when I was undercover was crazy, but this is a whole new level".

"It is what it is" She said, using Kathy's words from earlier. "Cragen said he never started the paperwork so it's not like her plan worked". She called their boss as soon as they got in the car, practically begging him to pull her transfer request. "He does have a lot of questions though, so I think we need to bite the bullet and tell him sooner rather than later".

Elliot shook his head in disbelief, "I don't understand how you're being so calm about all of this. I genuinely do not think she's ever done anything this low before".

"Of course I'm angry, but I get why she did it. She's scared she's going to lose you. People do crazy things when they're hurt" She reminded him. Her mind briefly wandered to a few years ago, when she left the SVU to work a case in Oregon. She hadn't done it for a change of scenery, but because Elliot said that they couldn't be partners anymore if they couldn't put the public first. After what happened with Gitano, she knew that Elliot would always come first, so she left. "We're not blameless in this. If we hadn't been put in that situation that night..." she trailed off. At least she phrased it in a way that didn't put the blame entirely on herself.

"Two wrongs don't make a right" He dismissed. He was too pissed to really let her words sink in, and she knew that. There was nothing else she could say, so she was done talking about it for now.

"Elliot, why don't you go home? Spend some time with your kids and relax a bit. Then talk to Kathy" She suggested, feeling guilty because he was with her when he could be enjoying the company of his kids.

Elliot shook his head. "I don't want to ruin their celebration. They already resent me, I don't want to make it worse``he explained. "And I'm worried about you" He admitted.

"Elliot, they don't resent you and I'm fine" She insisted, sitting up. "I never get sick and then suddenly all these hormones come flooding to make everything go haywire. What I don't understand is why do people make pregnancy sound like this wonderful, magical thing? My boobs hurt, my stomach hurts, I haven't slept more than a few hours at a time because of the first two. My nipples are unrecognizable and I pee so many times a day...I can't imagine what it'll be like during the third trimester". She hadn't meant to go off like that, but it felt good to let it all out.

"I think we should go to the hospital" He already knew that she was going to protest, so he offered her a deal. "I'm worried that you're dehydrated. If you can drink that whole glass of water and keep it down, I'll drop it".

Olivia eyed the glass of water, running her tongue across the inside of her cheek. She picked it up and looked him in the eye, downing the entire glass in a matter of seconds. She handed him the now empty glass with a proud grin. "Looks like you're dropping it".

"I said I'd drop it if you can keep it down, Benson". His cell phone started to ring, and he could only hope that they weren't being called into work. "Stabler".

"Can you please let me in? I've been knocking for ten minutes" Kathy whined.

"Let you in?" He repeated, making his way down the hallway and into the living room. Without checking the peephole, he threw open the door to find Kathy standing on the other side, still holding her phone up to her ear. She hung up and scurried into the apartment, awkwardly standing in the middle of the room. Elliot shoved his phone back into his pocket as he closed the door, turning to give Kathy his full attention. "You have some nerve showing up here" He practically growled.

"So, you already know about our conversation at lunch" She stated rather than asking.

"It depends, are you referring to when you lied to her about needing radiation, or when you asked her to transfer to a different unit?" He questioned. Olivia made her way down the hall, stopping at the breakfast bar to lean against it.

"Both" Kathy answered truthfully. "I don't know what came over me, lying, manipulating person isn't me, and you know that. I begged her to have lunch with me so that we could talk things out, and try to put all of this behind us. Our kids are going to be siblings, so we should be civil at the very least! When she brought up the fact that I'd been ignoring your calls it reminded me of the night of the incident and how you wouldn't answer my calls and how she convinced me to give you one more chance. It got me thinking about the fact that we haven't done anything to fix our marriage. I wanted one more shot at fixing this, but without the extra help from Liv. If we can't do it without someone telling us to, then we shouldn't be together" she rambled. She crossed the room so that she could address Olivia. "I'm sorry. No, I'm more than sorry. I wish I could take it back. Please tell me you didn't talk to Cragen yet".

Olivia could tell that Kathy was truly remorseful. "I did, but I handled it as soon as Elliot told me that you're cancer free. Congratulations by the way" she added with the tiniest trace of a smile. Kathy wrapped her arms around Olivia, hugging her tightly. Olivia stiffened, but she quickly returned the embrace."We've both messed up. Why don't we start over? Everyone can have a clean slate" Olivia suggested. Of course that would be much easier said than done, but the idea of it was nice.

"I'd really like that" Kathy whispered.

Looking over Kathy's shoulder, Olivia saw Elliot watching them. He had calmed down significantly, but he still looked pissed. Kathy stepped away from Olivia, turning around to face her husband.

"I want a divorce" She announced, making Olivia's jaw drop. That wasn't exactly what she meant by clean slate.

"What?" Elliot asked, making sure that he had heard her right.

"Elliot, we have had countless opportunities to make things better between us, with and without the help of others" She said carefully. "I've been thinking about it all day, all week actually, and I realized that we haven't worked on things because we don't want to".

Olivia couldn't believe what was transpiring right in front of her, in her living room. What was it about her apartment that made it the perfect place for the Stablers to have important conversations in it? An endless track of holy shit played in her mind as she watched the scene play out. Elliot was standing so still that if someone painted him bronze he could be mistaken for a statue. "I don't understand. Seven hours ago you asked Olivia to transfer so I wouldn't be 'tempted' and now you want a divorce?" He finally spoke.

"Elliot, I did want you to come home, but not for the right reasons.I wanted you to come home because I was scared that I couldn't do this on my own. We've been together since senior year of high school and I had forgotten what it felt like to be alone.I never really got the chance to get to know my adult self without you. Since you've been gone I haven't been obsessing over where you are, who you're with, or what you're doing. Honestly, it feels like there's been a weight lifted off my shoulders. I think what happened at lunch was that I let that fear come in and take over, so I panicked". She walked over to Elliot, closing the immense distance between them. "Elliot, I need you to be one hundred percent honest with me. If we didn't have the kids, would we still be married?"

Olivia stared at him, anxiously awaiting his answer. Of course, right at that moment her stomach lurched, warning her that yet another round of vomiting was headed her way. She quickly excused herself to the bathroom, closing the door behind her, hoping that they wouldn't be able to hear her.

"I don't think so" He sighed.

"We've grown apart, and that's okay. You fell in love with her, and as much as it hurts, I have to accept that. I'm finally starting to figure out who I am, and I'm falling in love with myself for the first time. It doesn't make us bad people, just bad for each other" Kathy reassured. "So, I guess we should tell the kids".

Elliot nodded. "I'm sure they won't be surprised".

"If anything I'm sure they'll be relieved. No more yelling and fighting. It'll certainly be an adjustment. They do miss you though, so please make sure you see them. Olivia too " Kathy added as she made her way over to the door. "Please tell Liv again that I'm sorry for asking her to do something so ridiculous and dragging her back into our mess. You're right about her, she is a loyal friend, and it's clear that she'd do anything to see you happy". She turned the doorknob and pulled open the door, but paused. "And go get that woman some popsicles! They'll keep her hydrated and the sugar will help calm her stomach. Oh, and tell her that eating a few saltines before bed should help too. The blander the food, the better she'll feel". With that Kathy walked out, leaving Elliot in the living room alone.

"What happened?" Olivia asked as she emerged from the bathroom.

"Well I'm getting divorced...And buying you popsicles".