A/N: A nice and quick update for you- and its even the longest so far! See what happens when my teachers decide not to give my homework over the weekend? Oh, and this chapter has some more strong PG-13.

Disclaimer: I own the plot… but not the characters…

Flashback…

The winter air was just setting in, cold and gray with the promise of snow. Olivia slipped out of her jacket as she stepped into the precinct, grateful for the warmth it offered. She trotted over to her desk, eager to get to work. Elliot turned around when he heard her and grinned broadly. Olivia couldn't help but blush slightly, remembering Friday night. He seemed to realize that's what she was thinking and smirked even wider. Olivia quickly looked away before they made anyone suspicious. She sat down slowly on her desk chair, unable to recall an occasion when her legs were this sore. This of course elicited a very badly covered up laugh on Elliot's part. She glared up at him as he pretended to cough. Her gaze simply made him cough louder. Olivia rolled her eyes and then leaned forward whispering, "God Elliot, you are going to get us in trouble."

"I am not." he replied in a cocky tone, "So tell me, how was your horseback ride Saturday?"

Olivia grinned despite herself and said, "Oh it was wonderful. My old mentor let me ride his new project horse, because he knew I was such a good rider. Well, you can imagine how that turned out, thanks to you."

"Sorry. You shouldn't have given into temptation Friday night, Benson. Then maybe you could have actually enjoyed your ride." Elliot answered smugly.

"You are one to talk about giving into temptation, Elliot. It was a good ride, only a very painful one." Olivia replied, looking down at her file as she started to read it over.

Just as she did so, Munch walked by, instantly suspicious at the 'painful ride' comment. "What?"

Olivia flushed and said, "I went riding with my old mentor, he was a cop in the mounted unit. He gave me his new horse to ride because he knows I always liked riding the difficult ones. So now I am very sore!"

Munch sighed and walked off, apparently dissatisfied with her reply. Elliot didn't say a word, only kept staring at his file.

It was a fairly good day for a Monday, and they even got sent home early. Olivia was quite happy about this, as she hadn't felt well all day. She and Elliot hurried out of the precinct and into the cold outside. Snow was beginning to fall and Olivia hurried into Elliot's car, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. Elliot slid into the driver's side and looked over at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Olivia replied, leaning her head up against the window.

Elliot watched her with worry but didn't say anything else as he drove her home. He got out of the car first upon reaching her apartment and opened her car door for her. Olivia smiled at him and stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem." Elliot replied, but stood as though waiting to hear more.

"Do you want to come up?" she asked him, though she knew the answer. Elliot grinned widely and put his arm through hers.

Later that night they lay flopped on Olivia's couch. She had changed into low rise sleep pants and a white shirt, while Elliot was just in his boxers. He placed a kiss on her neck as he propped himself up on his elbows to prevent his entire weight from being on her. She grinned and traced her hands up his chest as she tightened her legs around him. "Liv?"

"Yes?" she answered, noticing his sudden seriousness.

"You know that I love you, right?" he said, looking into her eyes.

Olivia looked up at him in surprise. But Elliot didn't see just surprise in her wide eyed gaze. He knew that being 'the other woman' had been eating away at her, and it caused him great pain to know that he was the cause of her guilt and hurt. She then nodded slowly, an extremely sad smile coming to her lips. "I love you too."

Elliot reached out and wiped the tear that fell slowly from the corner of her eye. As he stroked the side of her cheek he said quietly, "There is nothing in the world that I want more than to see you happy. You were the first person that ever really saw me for me. Kathy married me because she had to; she never really liked the idea of me being a cop. But you… you are the one person who knew me and the one that I hoped would one day love me."

"I do Elliot. I do." Olivia replied, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He pulled her up into a sitting position, his hands resting on her hips and her legs on either side of him. She leaned down and kissed him, the intensity gradually rising as she adjusted her angle. He let her push him down until he was on his back and felt her hands tug at the edges of the boxers.

He left her apartment late that night, though he kept it short because Olivia was really extremely sore from the weekend. Her legs were extremely bruised and he could tell it hurt her when she stretched the tired muscles. He had carried her into the bedroom after they finished and tucked her in. She had fallen asleep quickly, and then he took a quick shower and headed home.

When he walked inside he found Maureen sitting on the couch watching a movie. "Hey sweetheart, what are you doing up this late?"

Maureen turned back to him and smiled. "No school tomorrow. It's winter break remember?"

"Right." Elliot replied, taking off his jacket and sitting down beside her.

"Dad… I was wondering what is going on with you and mom."

Elliot looked down at her in surprise. "Nothing, why?"

"Don't lie. I know you two have been seeing that marriage counselor." Maureen replied, folding her arms over her chest.

"Oh it's just a phase, Maureen. Married people go through things like that." Elliot answered, standing up and walking into the kitchen.

"Maybe you mean it's a phase married people go through when the husband has a beautiful partner named Olivia." Maureen said.

Elliot stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on dad! You can't be that blind! Olivia's great, I mean I have hung out with her a lot, and it's totally obvious when she talks about you. Besides, do you really think I haven't heard you and mom arguing about her the past few months?" Maureen answered, walking over to him.

"What's obvious when she talks about me?" Elliot asked, unable to keep looking his daughter in the eye.

Maureen sighed and said, "You ought to know. Look dad, don't you think it's about time to stop living a lie?" Elliot didn't answer, his heart was clenched painfully in his chest. "And by the way, mom's out with friends tonight."

Three weeks later on New Year's Eve Elliot and Olivia attended the annual police ball together, and then headed back to Olivia's. Elliot was very worried about her; she had been acting funny all night. Olivia hurried in to change out of her dress and brought Elliot out a change of clothes he left at her apartment. She sat down on her couch, running her hands up and down her face briefly. Elliot came back out, sitting down next to her. He laid his hand very lightly on her thigh and she jumped. "What is wrong?" he questioned, now extremely concerned.

Olivia looked up at him and stood, backing away slowly. "You are going to hate me." She said quietly.

"Olivia, what are you talking about?" Elliot questioned, getting up and walking over to her. He felt her shake as he took her arms.

"I'm pregnant Elliot." Olivia said, tears streaking down her face as she shut her eyes.

Elliot stared for a second and then said, "I thought you were taking birth control."

"I was. It didn't work!" Olivia exclaimed, and Elliot slowly released her arms. "I am so sorry Elliot. Please… don't hate me."

"I don't hate you." Elliot said, wrapping his arms around her gently. She hugged him back tightly, burying her face in his chest. "How far along?"

"Two and a half months." She answered, looking up at him.

Elliot nodded slowly. "That night after the flag football game."

Olivia nodded in reply and said, "I have been meaning to tell you for so long, but I didn't want to lose you."

"You aren't going to lose me." Elliot told her, gently kissing her forehead. Then he slowly knelt down, raising up her shirt. He kissed her belly before rising again and placing his hand on it. "We are going to find a way to work this out."

When they started work again, Olivia and Elliot walked into Cragen's office, dreading what they had to tell him. "Hey Captain, Olivia needs to go on desk duty for a few months."

Cragen looked up at them both, quite stunned. "You already want to quit, Benson?"

"No! I love this job. I really do. But I have to go on desk duty." She replied.

"Why?" he questioned.

"Because I'm pregnant." Olivia said quietly, looking away.

Cragen's jaw dropped and he looked over at Elliot. "Oh my God Elliot! What the hell has been going on between you two?"

Elliot turned slightly red as he said, "Well Captain, enough has been going on between us that I am the father of her baby."

Cragen placed his hands over his face and shook his head. "I don't believe this. But Benson, you can go on desk duty."

"Thanks Captain." She said, smiling at him.

"Your welcome. Take good care of yourself. But I need to talk to Elliot privately for a moment." Cragen said, and Olivia glanced at Elliot, who nodded to her. As soon as she shut the door Cragen yelled, "Elliot! What the hell did you do to her?"

"Captain…"

"You know the rules. No relationships that interfere with work."

"It's not interfering. I have been seeing her since before she even started here." Elliot replied.

Cragen's jaw dropped and he said, "I am stunned. You are the last person I would have expected to have to deal with this from. Does Kathy know?"

"No. Please don't say anything to her. I am going to tell her myself." Elliot said, looking pleadingly at Cragen.

"Okay, but by the time she starts showing, if you haven't said anything to your wife I am going to have to." Cragen replied, looking sternly at Elliot. "And I want you to know, I am very disappointed with you."

At the end of that week Cragen had pulled in a replacement partner for Elliot. Olivia was sitting typing up a report when she walked in. "Olivia Benson. I never thought I would see you here."

Olivia turned and saw the young blonde looking back at her. Her eyes widened and she said, "What are you doing here?"

"I am…" she started, but was cut off by Elliot's arrival. "You must be Detective Stabler. I am Detective Sandra Brown." Elliot shook her hand hesitantly. "I am your new temporary partner." Sandra continued.

"Oh. Nice to meet you." Elliot said, sitting down at his desk. Sandra glanced over at Olivia and smirked.

Olivia walked into the precinct a couple months later, and was more than a little self conscious. Her belly was starting to show. Sandra turned around and, of course, noticed instantly.

"Olivia, I didn't know you were pregnant! Or did you just get fat?" she questioned.

Olivia glared at her and sat down, everyone now staring at her. Elliot stared angrily at his temporary partner. "Say something like that again and I will kill you myself."

Sandra smiled seductively at him and ignored his comment. She walked over and sat down on Olivia's desk. "You always were such a slut. That whole thing with our instructor at the academy, I mean really. You will screw anyone to get ahead, won't you?"

Olivia turned bright red and didn't say a word. Elliot looked over at her in surprise. "What?"