Chapter 5: Telling the Captain
A/N: I did a lot of work on this chapter. It went from a short couple paragraphs in my 1st draft to this in my 2nd…
Olivia was nearly four months pregnant now. She hadn't spoken to Bryan since she told him about the baby. He had made it awfully clear he wanted nothing at all to do with the baby. It made her very depressed that the father of her child wanted nothing to do with it. She had always hoped to be different from her mother. It had been her dream to get married to a rich man and have 5 kids. Clearly, that dream had failed long ago. She would be lucky if she ever married. Who would want to marry a cop with a child? Maybe Bryan was right. Perhaps she couldn't care for a child and work at the same time. Maybe she should quit her job and become a full-time mother and find the right guy to help her raise her child. No, push that thought right out of your head Olivia thought. My job is my life. I'm not going to let some low life like Bryan convince me I can't do it and take care of my baby.
She looked at herself in the mirror; she was beginning to show. Also, she still hadn't told Cragen. Yeah, Elliot had ordered her three months ago to go and tell him. She just couldn't find the right time to tell him. She had been telling Elliot that Cragen said it was okay for her to work until she was really showing. What Olivia really didn't want was to be on desk duty. It was very selfish and careless of her. She just was a desk duty kind of cop!
One day at work Olivia knew she had to tell Cragen before he found out for himself. As much as she didn't want to, she had to.
Olivia walked into Cragen's office. "Captain, I need to tell you something," Olivia told him.
"O.K., so what's up Olivia?" he asked her.
"Well," she took a deep breath, "I'm pregnant."
"And how far along are you?" he asked in a mellow tone of voice.
"About 4 months," Olivia told him.
"And how long have you known?" asked Cragen.
"3 months," answered Olivia.
"And why haven't you told me about this before, you shouldn't be out on the streets in this condition," Cragen told her.
"I don't know, I was just looking for the right time," Olivia said.
"You, Olivia, didn't want to be on desk duty, I know you," said Cragen. "As of right now, you are on desk duty, I will find a temporarily replacement partner for Elliot."
"Ah, Captain! Is that necessary?" she asked him.
"Yes, he can't be out there alone," said Captain Cragen.
"Can't Munch or Fin be his partner?" asked Olivia.
"Olivia, Munch and Fin are partners, they need each other," Cragen said.
Later that day a gorgeous brunette haired woman came into the squad room. Olivia was researching on the computer. They had a suspect for the Williams case finally. She was trying to find some dirt on this guy.
"Hello, I'm Detective Gabrielle Johnson, you must be Olivia Benson," said the woman.
"Yeah, that would be me," said Olivia.
"I am your replacement, where is the Captain?" asked Gabrielle.
Olivia pointed to Captain Cragen's office. "Right there," she said.
Right away Olivia did not take a liking to this woman. She looked way to young to be a cop. Plus, she looked more like a model than a cop as well. There was no way that her partner was going to be spending all his days with her! Olivia would not permit it!
Elliot and John walked into the squad room. "Hey, Cragen rang and said that my new partner was here," he said to her. "Have you met her?"
"Yeah, she's not that impressive," Olivia told him.
"Really?" asked Elliot. "Where is she?"
"She's in Cragen's office," said Olivia.
Elliot went in there. Olivia was sure he'd find her impressive. He had just been through a divorce and was on the rebound. He often was even flirting with Olivia. Olivia had told him clearly that she would never date someone that was from her department, they would never be more than friends. Sometimes she wondered if he truly understood the rule that you couldn't date your partner or someone you work with.
When Elliot and Gabrielle came out he was already drooling over her. Olivia could see it in his eyes.
"Hey, Gabrielle, have you met Olivia?" he asked. Yeah, he was in love, otherwise he would have remembered that Olivia had already told them they'd met.
"Yeah, we met when I first came in," said Gabrielle.
"So, Gabrielle, let's get to know each other better, since we're going to be working together and all, are you married?" he asked her.
Olivia rolled her eyes, Idiot.
"No, I was engaged, but he called the wedding off," said Gabrielle. "What about you?"
"Oh, I'm recently divorced," said Elliot.
"Do you have any kids?" asked Gabrielle.
"Yeah, 4; 3 girls and a boy," said Elliot.
I can't stand anymore of this, Olivia thought. She got up and left.
Later on Casey and Olivia were talking.
"So have you met my replacement?" Olivia asked her.
"Yeah, that girl Elliot's all over?" asked Casey.
"So I'm not the only one who saw it!" exclaimed Olivia.
"It's rather sickening, I thought you were his true love," laughed Casey.
"Who knows, maybe he's the type of guy who only likes his partner," Olivia said.
"Hey, you've been partners with him for what 8 years now, you should know," said Casey.
"Yeah, but he wasn't single before," said Olivia. "He didn't have a reason to hit on his partner before," said Olivia.
"Yeah, I suppose you have a good point," admitted Olivia.
Much later, shortly before Olivia was getting ready to go home, Elliot approached her.
"So, what do you think about Gabrielle?" asked Elliot.
"Personally, I don't like her," said Olivia, "do you expect me to?"
"Wait, you're not jealous are you!" exclaimed Elliot.
"Huh? Me, no way! Jealous of her!" laughed Olivia.
"You are jealous! You said very clearly you would never date your partner," Elliot reminded her.
"Well, technically she's your partner now, so you shouldn't be able to date her either," Olivia said.
"She's my temporary partner, after you're back and fully functioning I can see her whenever I please," said Elliot.
"Elliot, for heaven's sake she's like twenty!" exclaimed Olivia.
"She's twenty-five to be exact, and who cares about age difference these days?" asked Elliot.
"Elliot, just shut-up!" yelled Olivia. She left.
She hated to yell at Elliot. Maybe she was jealous? She didn't know what she was right now. All these pregnancy hormones had her going absolutely crazy.