Shit, Olivia cursed. She was going to be late getting home again. She and Elliot had been tied up with paperwork after closing their latest case. It was getting on for eight o clock and she had promised Abby she'd be home by eight so her nanny could go visit her mother. There was no way they would be finished in time for her to get home. Groaning, she laid her head on her desk.
"Something the matter, Liv" her partner asked, a touch of concern edging his voice.
Olivia raised her head to look at Elliot with a scowl on her face. " No, other than the fact I'm going to be late again, for which Abby might kill me. I promised her some time off to go see her mother tonight." she responded with a sigh.
Elliot smiled apologetically. "I can finish up here if you want to go ahead and run home, that way you aren't the evil employer from hell" he told her with a grin.
"Hey you don't have to tell me twice, I owe you big time " Olivia said as she gathered up her things and scooted towards the door.
"That means bring breakfast in the morning, Benson" Elliot called after her before she made it out the doors.
"You got yourself a deal, Stabler " she called back as she scurried out.
Olivia's POV Elliot was a great partner. Sometimes she didn't know what she would do without him. He was he person she could confide in after a particularly heinous day at work. They would talk through the night, sometimes, just trying to chase away the demons that threatened to plague their existence. She knew her husband should be her best friend, but Andy had the tendency to only want to talk about the things he had done all day. She cracked a small smile. Her husband definaetly liked to be in the spotlight, but she accepted that. He was a US Marshall. He had a right to be proud. The only fault she had with Andy was he tended to be a cop before he tended to be a husband. He thought like a cop.
Her mind drifted back to the Baxter case. Andy had been assigned to the 1-6 to help catch Baxter. Unfortunately, they had to work together. Andy was hellbent on getting Baxter no matter what. When she had been taken hostage, she was confident, Andy would do anything to get her out of there. She was surprised when he had been more concerned about getting Baxter. She was even more disappointed when she realized he wasn't doing what she asked. That he didn't trust her as a cop and was going to give the sniper the go ahead. He had shot Baxter anyways and she was more than pissed by the time she was freed. She had her unit backing her when they argued down in the parking lot. Cragen chewed Andy's ass for even entertaining the thought of shooting while he was wife was in the way. Then, Elliot showed up. That was when the proverbial hell broke loose. He had heard the report on the way over. It was a hot topic of conversation back at the precinct. A US Marshall not only willing to risk the life of a fellow law enforcement officer, but to risk the life of his wife? Olivia couldn't help but grin when she thought of the way Elliot charged Andy, clocking him, before Andy had a chance to say anything. Andy accused Elliot of caring too much about his wife and not in a partner type way. Elliot in turn accused Andy of not caring about his wife at all. At the time, Olivia hadn't really cared about what either one of them were saying. She had only cared about getting to the hospital to check on Baxter.
Olivia snapped back to the present as she reached her home. She quickly exited her Explorer, handing the keys over to the Valet. With a nod and smile to the doorman, she walked through the doors of her apartment complex to the elevator. When the doors opened immediately, she let out a sigh of relief. Finally, she was home. Now, she could relax and spend time with her kids. As she approached the door and let herself in, she saw Abby chasing after Serena. Abby called out a greeting before following in pursuit of a very naked Serena. Olivia couldn't help but chuckle. Serena had never been fond of clothes. She wore them only when necessary. Which meant school and out in public. In the house, it was almost impossible to keep her clothes on. Kicking off her shoes and setting down her bag, she moved in pursuit of her nanny and her daughter.
"Abby, I got it from here, you go ahead and head on to your mother's. I'll deal with the streaker. " Olivia said when she reached the door of her daughter's room.
"Thanks Olivia, maybe you'll have better luck than me." Abby grinned as she walked out of the room.
Serena looked at Olivia with a self satisfied smile. They hadn't succeeded in their mission of making her wear clothes yet. However, when Olivia looked back at her daughter with a raised eyebrow, the smile slowly started to melt away.
"Hi Mommy" Serena said innocently. Her eyes darted around for any possible escape routes.
" Hey sweetheart" Olivia replied before shutting the door and moving to collect her daughter "Isn't it a little cold to go without clothes, baby" she asked as she looked through Serena's closet for her Dora the Explorer pajamas.
"I guess so" her little girl sulked, but quickly got over it when she saw her Dora PJ's.
"Look Mommy, Dora" she exclaimed a moment later.
Aha, Olivia thought, success. If it was Dora the Explorer her daughter would do almost anything as long as she got something with Dora on it. Serena quickly grabbed her PJ's out of her mom's hands and dressed. Olivia smiled as she sat down on her daughter's bed grabbing a hair brush off the nightstand. It was a nightly ritual. She brushed Serena's hair as Serena worked on her reading skills.
"What are we reading tonight, huh Mommy" Serena asked as she settled on her bed. Olivia smiled as she began to brush through Serena's silky brown hair. There was no doubt that Serena was Olivia's daughter. She was the spitting image of her mother as a child.
"Pick out a book while I go check on your brother okay. He's been too quiet since I got home" Olivia replied.
While Serena was picking out a book, Olivia walked into her son's room. Andrew was busy playing video games. Since Andy's parents had gotten him an X-Box for Christmas, it was almost impossible to get him to do anything else.
"Hey Andy" she said as she walked into his room. Andrew or Andy Jr. as he was called was eight years old. Sometimes it was hard to believe. She had been in labor with him for almost twenty eight hours, before he decided to grace the world with his presence. Her mom had been in the delivery room with her because Andy had been off trying to secure an escaped rapist. With a wry grin Olivia told herself she should have known then that was how it would always be.
"Hey Mom" Andy turned his head towards her for a split second before engrossing himself back in his video game.
"How was school" she asked, hoping to get his attention again.
"Fine, had a vocabulary test and a math quiz" he replied. never looking at her.
"How'd you do on it?"
"The usual....I got a 100 on the vocabulary test and a 90 on my math"
Olivia grinned at him. That was her Andy. The only subject he was bad at really was paying attention. It never seemed to affect his grades though. Whenever she had talked to his teachers, they always said he was doing outstanding. She supposed his attention span came from his father.