A/N - So sorry for the delay, work has been manic lately and i've just been too tired to write!

Chapter 32 – Changes

As it transpired, they barely saw each other for the next week or so, apart from passing each other in the squad room. Fin had called Amanda in the early hours of Saturday morning, pulling her in for a case that took up most of the weekend and the following week. She got home in time for a late dinner on the following Sunday night, looking and feeling utterly exhausted.

A concerned Olivia was putting her foot down, telling Amanda that she was, in no uncertain terms, banned from the office for the next two days. "I'm making Fin take the time off too." She said when Amanda started sulking like a teenager. "It's nothing to do with you being pregnant, I just can't have my detectives working 24/7 with no rest. I need you firing on all cylinders at work, which means you need to take the time to chill and recharge."

"I'm fine Liv," Amanda said, realising the irony as she stifled a yawn, and struggled to keep her eyes open.

Olivia stood on the opposite side of the table from where Amanda was sitting. She cocked one eyebrow at the blonde, folding her arms across her chest as if to say, 'yeah, sure you are.'

When she realised that she wasn't going to win the argument, Amanda huffed, her scowl deepening.

Amused, Olivia rounded the back of the blonde's dining chair and hugged her from behind, resting her chin on Amanda's shoulder. "You know, you look really cute when you pout like that," she purred into the younger woman's ear. Pressing her lips to Amanda's cheek, she felt it lift as Amanda failed to suppress her smile.

The blonde held onto Liv's arms with both hands while she turned her head towards the brunette, so that their lips met. "Lieutenant Benson, are you tryin' to sweet-talk me?" she murmured in her best southern accent, her lips still pressed to Olivia's smiling mouth.

"Maybe," Liv said in a sly tone, pulling back an inch so she could look into Amanda's eyes, "is it working?"

"Hmmm," Amanda mock frowned, before pecking Liv on the lips again, "maybe."

Liv let out a throaty chuckle before standing taking Amanda's empty dinner plate back to the kitchen, she herself had eaten a couple of hours ago with Noah, as she was unsure when the blonde would get back.

"Fine," Amanda relented, "I'll take Monday and Tuesday off." She rubbed the knuckles of one hand into the corner of one tired eye, while her other hand ran across her still mostly flat belly. "This lil wriggler is kinda making me more tired now," she admitted sheepishly, smiling fondly as she used the nickname given by Dr Mills. Normally she could power through a 40-hour shift, exhausted at the end of it but still on her feet. She had noticed a faster burnout this weekend than usual, however, necessitating a stint in the cribs after about 24 hours.

"So what's wrong with having a couple of days to get some rest?" Liv called over the counter.

"I just… I dunno, Liv." Amanda worried at her bottom lip, "I don't want the guys to think you are giving me special treatment because we are livin' together, y'know?" She watched the brunette as she moved around the small kitchen. "It'd be even worse if they found out we were actually together."

Liv came back with a glass of water and Amanda's evening dose of medication. Handing them to the blonde she perched on the edge of the seat next to her. "Manda, it's still early days, honey," her eyes followed the movement of the younger woman's hands as she tossed the pills to the back of her mouth, then chased them quickly with three gulps of water. "We don't have to tell anybody about us until we're both ready for it to be public knowledge, okay?"

"Right," Amanda smiled at Liv, but couldn't hide the note of trepidation in her short reply. Her mind seemed to vacillate between wanting to shout from the rooftops that she was dating Olivia freaking Benson, and keeping their little domestic bubble all to themselves. She knew her family would never approve, especially her mother, and even less so when she eventually told them about the baby.

She could already hear Beth Ann's reaction to the news. 'Oh, Mandy, what do you think you're playin' at, having a baby out of wedlock? How are you ever gonna find a husband now? You need to quit playing house with that woman and find a man to settle down with. What will the neighbours say if they find out?' She let out a deep sigh, even just the imagined conversation making her feel tired.

Lost in her own little world, it surprised her when Liv used her thumb to gently prise the blonde's lower lip from between her teeth. She had been unaware she was biting it. "Hey," Liv said gently, as Amanda came back to the present. "Where'd you go just now?"

"Oh," Amanda's face went a little pink as her body reacted to Olivia's gentle touch. "I was just, uh, just thinking about telling people, about the baby and about us." Her voice turned sad.

"Your mom?" Liv guessed, knowing that the blonde's mother was a traditional southern woman both in her views on sexuality and in procreation outside of marriage. When Amanda swallowed and nodded, Liv said, "you don't need to worry about that just yet," she didn't want Beth Ann upsetting Amanda. "It's not like you see her all the time is it?"

"No, I suppose not." Amanda conceded, looking slightly less worried.

"You might want to consider telling the guys at work soon though, honey." Liv said, softly tucking a loose lock of golden hair behind Amanda's ear. When she saw the terrified look on the blonde's face, she let out a small chuckle. "Sweetheart, you're twelve weeks pregnant. You're almost to the end of your first trimester and you are going to start showing soon."

When Liv carefully pressed a hand to Amanda's lower belly, the blonde had to work to steady her breathing as she felt her core muscles contract involuntarily, and a small shudder run down her spine. Luckily Liv picked up on neither reaction, but continued to speak. "They're detectives, Manda, and pretty damn good ones at that, but they are also your family and I think it would hurt them if you didn't tell them and they found out later."

"Alright, alright, I'll think about it," Amanda stood up, "now I need a shower and I need to go to bed because I'm beat." As she turned towards her room, Liv grabbed her hand.

"Wait, Manda," Liv rose from her seat to face the blonde, "can I kiss you?"

Amanda hesitated. It wasn't that she didn't want to kiss Olivia, god did she want that. It was that her arousal was already warring with her dubious self-control and she didn't want to do something they would both come to regret. But she also didn't want to hurt Liv's feelings. "Okay," she smiled and leaned in closer to the brunette, the curves of their bodies fitting together perfectly as their lips found one another. It was soft at first, but the passion between them was building as Olivia threaded her fingers through soft golden tresses, and Amanda's hands clung to Liv's waist.

As her oxygen supply depleted, Amanda could feel her arousal pool at her centre. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed to pull back. "Liv, wait," she panted, opening her eyes to see dark brown ones staring back with concern. "If we keep going, I am going to jump you, and I know neither of us is ready for that yet." Amanda explained, lowering her gaze in shame as she fidgeted with the hem of Olivia's shirt.

"Oh," Olivia's face went pink, "sorry."

"It's not your fault," Amanda grinned, "well I guess it's partly your fault for being so damn sexy," Amanda said matter-of-factly, Olivia blushed deeper at the compliment. "but I think it's my hormones. You know I always thought that was a myth, just an excuse for women to get away with crazy things while they're pregnant," Amanda said. "Turns out, it's totally a thing." The pair of them giggled at Amanda's rambling.

"Why do I get the feeling these next six months are going to be… interesting?" Liv asked, choosing her last word carefully, wrapping Amanda in a bear hug and looking down at the slightly shorter woman with one eyebrow raised.

"Hmmm," Amanda pretended to think, "maybe because I'm bad enough without crazy pregnancy hormones? I'm just gonna apologise in advance, because I am gonna be a nightmare."

Olivia laughed, a deep rich sound that Amanda thought she would never hear enough of. "Alright, well, before you go batshit crazy, how 'bout you go shower and get some sleep?"

"That's probably a good idea," Amanda grimaced apologetically, which just entertained Liv more.

The brunette pecked the tip of Amanda's nose before spinning her by the shoulders and giving her a soft pat on the butt, encouraging her to move towards the guest room. "Goodnight Amanda."

Amanda threw one last look over her shoulder at the lieutenant before she hurried off to get her towel and clean pjs, then moved swiftly into the bathroom to take a very long shower.

Olivia found that the next couple of days dragged. It was mercifully quiet at work, so Liv used the opportunity to catch up on all the pending paperwork that had built up over the past few weeks while they had been busy. She worked hard, but she found her gaze drawn time and again to the empty desk where the blonde usually sat.

On Tuesday afternoon she was the only person in the squad room, Carisi having been called to testify in court and Fin still off like Amanda. It was 4.30pm and Liv had just been to the break room to rinse out her coffee mug, when she passed Amanda's desk on the way back to her office. She smiled to herself when she noticed the silver photo frame holding the picture of Amanda and Noah on the desktop, next to the stuffed chipmunk in the glass dome – a parting gift from her colleagues back in Georgia.

Deciding she couldn't wait any longer to see her two most favourite people, she hurried back to her office, diverted her calls to her cell, just in case they got a call out, and packed her things. She hurried out the door before anyone could notice she was gone.

She was lucky, the traffic was surprisingly light, so she found herself opening her front door only twenty minutes later, and the sight that met her eyes made her laugh out loud, startling the other occupants of the apartment. Frannie's claws skittered against the hardwood in her haste to greet the newcomer. Liv had taken the pit bull by surprise, because Frannie had been fully focused on what Amanda and Noah were doing, and Liv could see why.

"Mommy, I make bownies wid Manna!" the little boy called excitedly when he saw who had walked in.

They were in the kitchen, Noah standing on a dining chair beside Amanda so he could reach the counter top. He was using a large wooden spoon to mix something apparently very chocolatey, as evidenced by the brown smudges all over his face. As she watched, the little boy held the spoon up to Amanda, "you twy, Manna," he demanded, pushing the spoon at the blonde's mouth but missing, getting the batter all over her right cheek and nose.

Amanda's nose wrinkled adorably as the spoon hit her face. "Urgh, Noah, honey, if we eat all the batter now, we won't have any left to make the brownies," she laughed at the toddler's crestfallen expression. "how 'bout we put it in the pan and then we can bake them?"

"Okay Manna," the little boy said, cheerfully. He watched as Amanda deftly transferred the batter into the greased tin then turned gracefully to deposit it in the oven. When she turned back around, she started. Olivia had approached silently in those few short seconds, and now stood directly in front of her, wearing a huge grin. The brunette leaned in and pecked her on her non-chocolate covered cheek, then turned to ruffle Noah's hair, planting a small kiss on his forehead, which was just about the only part of his face not covered in chocolate.

As Amanda set about cleaning Noah, herself and their workspace up, she said to Liv, "you're early. Everything okay?"

Olivia came up behind Amanda, sliding her hands around Amanda's waist and resting her chin on the shorter woman's shoulder, her front pressed to Amanda's back. "It is now," she murmured into Amanda's ear, her proximity causing the blonde to smirk and shiver with pleasure.

It wasn't meant as a sexual thing, just a closeness thing. These last two days had been the longest that Liv had gone without being in the same room as the blonde for about three weeks, and she found that she missed her when she wasn't around.

Amanda finished cleaning up Noah and helped him jump down off the chair. He immediately dashed off to his toy box, followed by Frannie. The dog was busy checking Amanda hadn't missed any brownie residue by licking the little boy thoroughly, as the toddler released squealing giggles. Both women chuckled lowly, Amanda's hands coming to rest on top of Olivia's where they were splayed over her stomach.

Olivia suddenly frowned, "Manda, are your pants undone?" She could feel the button of Amanda's jeans through the loose sweater the blonde wore, it was hanging open.

"What? Oh, yeah," Amanda blushed a little, turning to face Olivia, "I, um, I can't do my pants up anymore." She lifted her baggy top to reveal the smooth expanse of her stomach, which was no longer flat, as it had been a couple of weeks ago at the hospital, but now showed a very slight bulge.

Olivia's eyes widened in wonder and she sank slowly to her knees, until she was eye level with Amanda's belly button. She gazed back up at the younger woman's face, where blue eyes held a glassy sheen. "May I?" The brunette asked softly. Amanda gave a nod and a soft smile, her throat too tight to speak. She blinked to dispel the tears in her eyes as she felt Olivia touch the bare skin of her stomach for the first time. She gasped as at first Liv's fingertips, then her warm palms covered the spot where new life grew inside her, a slow grin creeping across the older woman's face.

Amanda had to cover her mouth and choke back a happy sob when Olivia's gaze shifted back down and she began speaking to Amanda's tummy. "Hi baby," the older woman murmured in a low soothing tone. "I'm Olivia. I'm not sure if you can hear me yet, but I want you to get to know my voice right away. I'm going to take care of you and your mama," her eyes flicked up to meet blue ones, "for as long as she wants me to." She pressed a soft kiss to the swell just below Amanda's navel, then stood.

Amanda could see tears in Olivia's eyes too as they looked at each other, huge smiles on their faces. "I mean it, you know," Liv said quietly, squeezing Amanda's shoulders gently, "as long as you want me, I'll be here."

"I'm glad you said that," the blonde rasped out, her throat tight with emotion. Liv pulled her closer as she cleared her throat and tried again. "It's my first prenatal exam tomorrow, are you still coming with me?"

Olivia squeezed lightly where her hands rested on the younger woman's hips. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."