A/N: Can you believe I have a semi-plan for the next few chapters? A little bit of filler, a lot of angst. I'd like to have some sweeter, calmer chapters in here, but we ain't there yet. So, enjoy the drama.
"Docket ending 0401, People of the State of New York v. Bernadette Louise Stabler," the bailiff read.
"How do you plead, Mrs. Stabler," the judge asked.
"Guilty, your honor," Bernie said.
"The People have agreed to accept a pre-indictment plea to the lesser misdemeanor of simple assault, and the defendant has agreed to enter outpatient psychiatric treatment," the prosecutor said.
"Are the victims on board?" the judge asked.
"They are," the prosecutor said.
"Mrs. Stabler, are you prepared to cooperate with your doctors?" the judge asked.
"Yes, I know I have a problem and I want to get help," Bernie said. "I'll take medication."
"I'll accept the guilty plea," the judge said. "If the defendant completes her treatment, the charge will be dismissed. I want to see you back here in six months for a status check."
The judge banged her gavel and the court moved to its next case.
"I'm so proud of you, Mama," Elliot said, putting his arm around her and leading her out of the courtroom.
"Thank you son," Bernie said, patting him on the back. "There's just one more thing."
"What's that?" he asked.
"Well, to get them to agree to outpatient treatment I had to promise something," she said.
Elliot came to a full stop in the middle of the hallway and turned to her.
"Promise what?" he asked.
"It's not really a big thing," she said. "I just didn't want to go back to a place where they'd force pills down my throat. All white walls and straightjackets, like something out of the cuckoo's nest."
"Mama, what promise did you make to the court?" Elliot asked.
"That I'd move in with you, so that you could monitor my progress," Bernie said.
"What?" Elliot yelled. "Without checking with me first? What about Kathy and the kids?"
"I thought you wanted me to get better?" she asked. "You've always wanted a 'normal' mother. Here's your chance to have one."
"It's just that it's a big responsibility," Elliot said. "You know how much I work, and Kathy has a lot to do running the kids from practice and recitals and school."
"You'll hardly even know I'm there," she said. "I just have to go pick up my things from home and I'm ready to move into the guest room. Everything's packed."
"Mama, I can't take you all the way back to Jersey right now to get your stuff and help you move," Elliot said. "I have to get back to work. I'm going to take you to my house and we can talk about it more tonight when I get home."
Bernie talked the entire way back to Queens about how it might be fun to paint some cityscapes, and get to know her grandchildren better, but Elliot was more concerned about what Kathy was going to say when he told her they had a new house guest with an indefinite checkout date.
"Oh hey," Kathy said when they walked in. She was folding the laundry on the couch with the noon news on in the background. "I was just getting ready to get cleaned up and go get the twins from kindergarten."
"Oh, I'll go with you," Bernie said. "Just have to freshen up my makeup."
She headed up the stairs to the bathroom.
"I don't have time to take her all the way back to Jersey," Elliot said. "Can you keep her occupied until I get home tonight?"
"I guess," Kathy said. "How'd court go?"
"She pled guilty," Elliot said. "Judge agreed to outpatient treatment and if she sticks to it after six months the charges go away."
"Outpatient," Kathy said. "Wow, that's great."
"You're not going to think so in a minute," he said.
"Why?" Kathy asked, tossing the last of the socks into the basket.
"She told the court she'd move in with us so we can monitor her treatment," Elliot said. "But she didn't tell me that part until after sentencing was over."
"She can't move in here," Kathy said. "What if she has an episode when the kids are around?"
"I don't know, but I can't do this right now," Elliot said. "Just keep her entertained for the day and we'll talk about it when I get home."
"You can't leave now," Kathy said. "You can't just leave me with her."
"We have a case and I'm already late, I'm sorry," Elliot said, leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead. "I love you."
"Yeah, yeah," Kathy said as he retreated out the door.
Elliot tried to push all thoughts of his mother out of his mind once he got back to the precinct.
"Okay, what do we got?" Elliot said, running in.
"White male, early 40s," Cragen said. "Likes to prey on blondes leaving yoga classes near Jackson Square. Most have been after the late night class, but a couple have been in the afternoon."
"So, stakeout?" Elliot asked.
"Yep," Cragen said. "Your partner's out getting sandwiches then you guys are on watch outside the studio. Last class ends at 10:30 p.m."
"Great," Elliot said. "Get to call my wife and tell her I won't be home for dinner. That should be a fun time."
"Just be glad you're not paying four alimony payments a month, my friend," Munch quipped from his desk and Elliot shot him the bird.
Luckily, Kathy was probably still coming back from getting the twins so he left a message on the home machine. He'd just hung up when Olivia walked into the squad with a bag from their favorite deli.
"You already heard?" she asked.
"Yep," he said. "We supposed to go now or wait for the night class?"
"Cragen said to go now so we can do a few drive bys and get the lay of the land," she said.
"I'm driving," he said.
"And the sun came up this morning," Olivia cracked. "Nothing new here."
"Ha. Ha. Ha," Elliot deadpanned, grabbing his jacket and following her to the elevator.
They did a few drive bys of the studio and got out and canvassed the alley for escape routes, then got settled back into the car for a late lunch and their stakeout.
"Your mother's court date was today, right?" Olivia asked in between bites.
"Yeah," Elliot answered, taking a sip of his Sprite. "It went okay."
"That's good," Olivia said. "No trial?"
"Nah," he said. "She pled guilty and got outpatient treatment."
"That'll be good for her," Olivia said. "I'm sure being home and having some normalcy might make it easier to stay on the right path."
"Oh she won't be at home," Elliot quipped, balling his sandwich wrapper up and shoving it in the brown bag. "She told everybody except me that she'd move into my house so we could monitor her progress."
"And how'd Kathy take that?" Olivia asked.
"Not well," Elliot said. "Sure going to be a fun night tonight getting home after the stakeout."
Elliot expected Olivia to laugh, but she didn't.
"You okay?" Elliot asked.
She'd been looking out the window toward the yoga studio but it seemed like she was somewhere else entirely.
"Hmm," she said, turning to him. "Oh, yeah. Fine."
"You know, we're going to be here for a few hours at least," Elliot said. "If there's anything you want to talk about…"
"Nothing but the usual," Olivia said. "We started family therapy yesterday. Mark doesn't want to go back, so Chelsea and I are going to do sessions on Wednesday evenings, just the two of us."
"Therapy?" Elliot asked.
"Are all men extremely against the idea, or just the men I know?" Olivia said harshly.
"I'm not against it," Elliot said. "You just normally don't go to therapy unless something's wrong. Is there something wrong?"
"I just don't know how well we're all handling the changes in life right now," Olivia said. "Chelsea used to love school but she puts up a fight every morning now. Ever since my Mom died she's been acting differently and I'm afraid there are things she isn't telling us. But I'm not going to send my kid to therapy if I'm not going myself. I thought family sessions could help us understand each other a little better."
"That's really brave of you, Liv," Elliot said.
"It's not brave," Olivia said.
"It is," Elliot said. "You saw a problem, or at least the potential for a problem, and you're trying to fix it."
"At least trying to fix the things I can," Olivia said, looking down at her hands.
Elliot still felt like there was something she wasn't telling him. Then he remembered what had her looking so forlorn in the first place. Talking about his mother, and her treatment.
"Liv, are you worried about Chelsea having…" he stopped, looking for the right words. "Emotional problems. Like my Mom."
She looked up from her hands
"It can be genetic," she said, quietly.
Elliot leaned his head back against the headrest and rubbed his temples. He'd already known that, of course, but he never really thought one of his children would inherit bipolar disorder from him, from his mother.
"I just want her to be used to therapy," Olivia said. "In case she does really need it later."
"You don't want her to end up like my mother," he said.
"No, I didn't say that," Olivia said. "I just want to make sure if there are symptoms somebody can catch them. They can diagnose it in kids as young as five."
"You've researched," Elliot said, a statement, not a question.
"Just a little," Olivia said. "I just want to be prepared. There's already so much I don't know about my genes. What I could have passed on to her. I've only ever really known to worry about addiction when she got older."
It hadn't occurred to Elliot that Olivia had been flying blind on her medical history her whole life, not actually knowing her father. And she'd only known a quarter of Chelsea's medical predispositions up until recently. With his other four kids, Elliot knew every possible genetic issue, from both his and Kathy's side of the family.
"We have heart and lung issues too," Elliot said. "On my dad's side. But they were all big smokers. I think I had an aunt who had Type II diabetes. And addiction with my dad too. And bipolar disorder."
Olivia looked up at him and gave a small smile.
"Thank you," Olivia said. "I never wanted to ask, but after the last few weeks I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."
"Hey, anything like that, if it has to do with Chelsea, you just ask," he said. "I know we don't pry into each other's lives, but for her, you just say the word."
Elliot thought he saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"You really don't know how much that means," Olivia said.
"I'm serious," Elliot said, reaching over to take her hand before he could stop himself. "She's the most important thing. I know why we're not telling her the truth, why we haven't told Kathy and Mark. But her health and safety come first."
"I know," Olivia said, squeezing his hand back. "I don't think she's bipolar. I'm hoping it's just the stress of learning about death and adjusting to it all. But I want to know for sure."
"You're an amazing mother, Liv," Elliot said.
"You're a good Dad, Elliot," she said.
He didn't miss the fact that they hadn't let go of each other's hands, even after they stopped talking. They just kept them there, over the gear shift. Just Chelsea's parents, holding onto one another, thinking, hoping, praying, and trying to make sure their daughter was going to be okay.
A/N: That's as sweet as we can get for now.
A few things I can tell you in preview for the upcoming chapters:
1. If you can't tell, I'm not Mark's biggest fan (I created him and don't even like him). Even when I try not to write him as a villain, he comes off as a villain.
2. Kathy will not be a villain here. After all the crap that went down in canon, we're just not going there. You may not love her by the time we get to the end, but she will not be as bad as Mark.
3. Bernie Stabler is queen, forever and ever, and anywhere I can fit her into this now it's happening. I've had way too much fun revisiting "Swing" and incorporating stuff from the new OC episodes. Let's be real, she and Liv (and a little bit of Bell and Jet) are SAVING that show because it's got me fuming.
4. Chelsea will not have bipolar disorder. Did I just spoil my own work? That's a very delicate subject which I have no experience with and am not qualified to write about. I wouldn't want to do people who do battle it every day a disservice by messing it up. Now that's not to say Chelsea won't have some other problems that I am more familiar with, but she will not have bipolar disorder in this story.
Is that everything I feel like telling you before the next update? Yep. I think so.
Oh, also, thank you for the kind reviews! I'm glad people are liking this. When I say I have no plan or a very small plan, that's really all there is to it. We're just making things up as we go along, and I'm glad the random gibberish in my head is, at minimum, entertaining to you all!
