AN: Hello my lovely peeps! I started a new job last week and boy did I underestimate how tired I was going to be! I apologize for the wait and I thank you for your continued interest. I promise that more will actually happen in the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Friday, January 26th

It was one in the morning when Olivia's phone started to ring. She had almost been asleep, but the piercing noise ruined that in a matter of seconds. Thankfully she got to her phone before it could wake Elliot though. "Benson" She answered out of habit, momentarily forgetting that she was suspended. That being said, she was surprised to hear Kathleen on the other end. She couldn't quite make out what the girl was saying because she was crying, but she was pretty sure she caught the words "sorry", "lost", and "drunk".

"Kathleen? Is everything okay?" Olivia asked as she made her way out of the bedroom. The girl continued to cry, making her worry even more. "Kathleen?" She repeated a bit louder.

"I messed up, Liv" Kathleen gasped. "I went to a party with this guy and had too much to drink and I went to the bathroom and he was gone. I started walking and now I have no clue where I am and it's so cold". The slurring of her words confirmed the fact that she was indeed drunk, but at least she was still able to speak and from what she had said, walk.

Olivia slipped on her shoes, deciding that getting to Kathleen as quickly as possible was more important than changing into normal clothes. A young, drunk girl wandering the city streets by herself late at night was the recipe for people wanted to judge her for being in her pajamas then so be it, she had a twenty year old to find and bring home. "Ok, you need to take a deep breath" She instructed as she grabbed the keys and her purse. "Can you see any street signs?"

"Yeah but I can't use my GPS because we used all our data and Mom will kill me if I push us over again. Oh my God, you can't tell my mom or dad! They're gonna think I screwed up again". Kathleen was full on sobbing now, breaking Olivia's heart.

"I won't tell them" She sighed, despite the nagging voice in the back of her mind screaming at her to tell Elliot. "If you can see the street signs I'll use my GPS" Olivia explained as she made her way out of the apartment, locking the door behind her. Thankfully, Kathleen could see the signs, giving Olivia something to work with.

It was two-thirty in the morning when Olivia spotted Kathleen sitting on the steps of an old church. She had no idea where Kathleen had walked from, but it seemed that she had traveled pretty far. Olivia put the car in park and hopped out, standing in front of Kathleen. She felt bad for the girl. She sat on the steps, shivering because she wasn't wearing a jacket as tears streamed down her face. Instinctively, Olivia shrugged off her coat, draping it over Kathleen. Olivia sat down next to her, surprised when Kathleen leaned into her. They wrapped their arms around each other, sitting in silence.

"I'm sorry" Kathleen sighed after a moment. "I didn't know who else to call. I messed up so bad".

Olivia rested her chin atop Kathleen's head, letting a small smile grace her face. "Kathleen, I can't even remember how many times I got drunk when I was in college" Olivia chuckled. "Even before I was twenty-one," She added, remembering that Kathleen was only twenty.

"I'm not in college" Kathleen confessed, letting out another sob. "I dropped all of my classes last week. I was going to tell my parents but they're going to hate me".

"Kathleen, your parents won't hate you" Olivia insisted. "They'll be confused and probably upset that you didn't talk to them about it first, but I promise that they won't hate you". She wasn't going to sugar coat it, Elliot was going to be upset, but only because Kathleen didn't tell him about anything. He'd get upset that she called Olivia for help instead of him, but he could never hate his daughter.

"Dad tried to send me to jail" Kathleen retorted. She was right, he did try to do that, but only because he thought that was the only way to get her help. He was misguided in his execution, but his intentions were good. "If it weren't for you and Grandma B I'd be in jail right now".

"He wasn't doing it to punish you or because he doesn't want you anymore" Olivia reassured. "He wanted you to get help and he didn't know what else to do". She didn't know if she should mention the fact that he did talk to his mother for her. This sounded like something that Elliot and Kathleen needed to talk about on their own. "Maybe he could go with you to therapy sometime? It sounds like you could use an impartial third party when you talk about this".

Kathleen nodded, chuckling. "Yeah because you are definitely not impartial".

Olivia brushed off the comment, unsure of what to say in response. "So what happened with school?"

"I'm not ready to go back. I hate my program, and whenever I think about it I get really down. I don't know what to do with my life and now that I'm done with my general education classes…" She trailed off, snuggling further into Olivia's chest.

Olivia understood what she was saying. She was also starting to get cold, but that didn't matter right now. "It's okay to take a semester off and figure out what you want to do. I'm going to give you some advice" Olivia said, pulling away from her so she could look into those pretty blue eyes. She cupped Kathleen's face, feeling how cold she was. "Tell your parents that you'll get a job, volunteer, take some community art classes, anything, and I can guarantee any anger they might have will ease up. They just want you to do something with your life".

Kathleen nodded, but her eyes started to flutter closed. It was probably a combination of the alcohol, her medication, and being plain tired finally catching up to her. They could talk about this some more in the morning. "Come on" Olivia said, standing up and offering Kathleen her hand. "Let's get in the car and turn on the heat". She pulled her up, trying not to chuckle when the girl swayed. She moved so that she was standing behind the blonde, hooking her arms under Kathleen's, just to be safe. The last thing they needed tonight was a visit to the ER. Once in the car, Kathleen fumbled with her seat belt, throwing her head back and giving up before she could actually buckle it. Olivia reached across her and buckled her up like she was a little kid. They had about an hour drive to get back to her apartment, so she told Kathleen to try and get some sleep, hoping that it would help the girl to sober up. Just when Olivia thought she was dozing off she heard her say something that warmed her heart.

"You're going to be an amazing mom, Liv".


By the time they reached the apartment, Kathleen had indeed sobered up (a tiny bit). She was able to walk without Olivia's assistance, but her balance was still pretty bad. She used the wall to hold herself up, and Olivia tried not to laugh at the sight. As quickly and quietly as she could, Olivia unlocked the door and guided Kathleen over to the couch.

"Where's my dad?" She whispered to Olivia, but it wasn't really a whisper.

"He's sleeping in my bed" Olivia answered, already knowing what the response to that was going to be. "Yes we are sharing the bed, no were are not sleeping together".

Kathleen let out a loud laugh as she flopped down on the couch. "What? Are you worried he's gonna get you pregnant?"

Olivia rolled her eyes, making her way into the kitchen to get Kathleen a glass of water and some aspirin for the morning.

"They're getting a divorce and you two love each other. What are you waiting for?" Kathleen asked as she took her bra off under her shirt.

Olivia stilled for a second, but quickly recovered. Had Elliot said something to her, or was she just making assumptions? Either way, it didn't matter. Elliot was her best friend, partner, and the father of her child. There was no reason to complicate things and risk ruining them. Who was she kidding? He would wind up with Kathy again, he always did. She set the glass and pills down on the coffee table before helping Kathleen to lie down. "I don't know what you're talking about" She sighed as she covered Kathleen with the throw blanket.

"Liv, I'm drunk. Not stupid".

Olivia bent down and kissed her cheek and wished her a goodnight, ending the discussion. She turned to head into the bedroom, stopping when Kathleen called her name.

"Yeah?" She asked, hoping that whatever it was didn't involve her relationship with Elliot.

"You're not going to be an amazing mom... You already are one".

Olivia felt the sting of forming tears in her eyes as her breath hitched. She didn't know what to say other than a mumbled thank you. She retreated into the bedroom, leaving the door cracked open in case Kathleen needed something. She sent a quick text to Kathy to let her know that Kathleen was spending the night before climbing into bed. The tears started to flow the second her head hit the pillow, feeling completely overwhelmed with emotion. Still fast asleep, Elliot rolled over so that he was facing her, reaching out to her. His arm draped over her, pulling her close to him. Rationally, she knew that he was only doing it because he was asleep and had spent his entire adult life as a married man, but right now she wasn't thinking rationally. She carefully lifted his arm off of her, sighing in relief when he didn't wake. It was too much for her with Kathleen's words swimming through her mind, but at the same time she instantly missed the contact and being in his arms sounded so good right now. Why was life so damn confusing? She couldn't even figure out what she wanted. If people thought her job was stressful, they should take a look at her life, especially how things were recently. Going back and forth between getting closer and pushing away was exhausting. She stared at the ceiling for several moments, wishing she could turn it all off. A strangled sob escaped her throat despite her efforts to choke it back.

"Come here" Elliot mumbled as his eyes cracked open. He held up his arm, inviting her back in. He must have sensed her hesitation because a few seconds later he added, "Stop thinking so much". She wished that it was that easy, just choosing to stop overthinking. Maybe it was because she was exhausted physically and emotionally, but not having to make the decision herself was really nice. All she was doing was following orders. Olivia snuggled into his side, resting her head on his bare chest. "Try to get some sleep" He whispered, giving her hip a gentle squeeze.


Olivia awoke to the feeling of a warm hand on her stomach, covering her baby bump. Her shirt had ridden up on her throughout the night, leaving her stomach exposed. She fought the urge to open her eyes, not wanting to scare Elliot off. It was one thing to be cuddled up while they were asleep, but this kind of contact was new for the awake versions of them. She was curious, and wanted to see what he would do if he thought she was asleep.

"Hey baby" He whispered, obviously trying not to wake Olivia. "It's your daddy".

It took everything in her to force back the smile that wanted to form on her face.

"I just wanted to tell you that I love you very much...And I know that your mom is awake" He tried not to laugh as he said the last part, but cracked when her eyes shot open. "I could feel the shift in your breathing" He explained, keeping his hand on her belly. He was laying on his side facing her, looking directly into her (now) open eyes. "Is this okay?" He carefully asked her, referring to his hand on her.

She nodded, offering him a small smile. The contact was not unwelcome, but the need to overthink was slowly building in her. She wasn't going to tell him to move his hand because she knew that he wanted to be close to the baby. And she wanted him to have that opportunity.

She was enjoying this, but it scared the crap out of her. It all felt so intimate, but that didn't mean that it was not their reality. Being suspended from work and Elliot and Kathy splitting up put them in this weird, temporary world where they shared a bed and acted like cuddling was normal. They were playing house, and she knew that their game would end when they were back in their element. She could only hope that it wouldn't hurt too much when he ran back to Kathy.

"Wanna tell me what's going on up there?" He asked, catching her lost in thought. His tone implied that he already knew that she was going to decline.

"No" She sighed, closing her eyes again. "Feels nice" She mumbled when his hand started to move up and down. Olivia's body jolted when his lips pressed against her abdomen. Why did it have to feel so nice? Elliot moved back up so that they were face to face, moving his hand so that it was resting against her cheek.

"You're glowing" He said with a small smile, making her blush. Stop thinking. Stop thinking. Stop thinking. She repeated over and over again in her head. At the same time, that was one of those things that everyone said to pregnant women. "It's early still" He told her, looking at the alarm clock on her bedside table. "You should try and get some more sleep. You came back to bed around four and it's only eight".

"I had to go pick up Kathleen last night. Everything is okay, she just went to a party and got separated from her friend. She got scared and called me. I didn't want to wake you up for something so small" She explained, leaving out some details here and there. Kathleen would talk to her parents about it later, so there was no need to get Elliot worked up now. His hand moved from her cheek to tuck her hair behind her ear as she spoke. "She's sleeping on the couch. I let Kathy know so she wouldn't be worried".

"Thank you" was all he said at first. A moment later he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but closed it again. "I hope her friend got home okay". He moved his hand off of her and sat up, reclining back against the pillows and the headboard. At first she thought he did it to get some space from her, but once again he lifted his arm in a silent invitation. Olivia adjusted herself accordingly, resting her head right under his pec. Elliot began to rub her back, smiling when she melted into him. It only took a few minutes for her to fall back asleep, making him smile when she started to softly snore. He would be perfectly content if this was all they did before leaving for family night.