Chapter Ten

Several Weeks Later

Casey walked quickly into the squad room. Luckily for her, Olivia was already in there. Munch was not in her immediate line of vision. Just to be safe, she would be quiet. "Liv," she said as she knelt down in front of the detective's desk. "Do you have any Motrin, or Tylenol, or something? I'm having the worst cramps," she whispered.

Olivia nodded as she opened the top right drawer of her desk, producing a small bottle of Excedrin and handing it to Casey. "Will this do?"

"Thank you," Casey said in a very soft but very grateful tone. "Thank you."

"No problem," Olivia responded with a smile.

Casey smiled back as she stood up and started heading towards the women's bathroom. Munch was entering the squad room from the direction in which she was headed. Casey could feel her face getting red, but she tried to avoid eye contact with Munch. If at all possible, she wanted to ignore him and have him ignore her. She crossed her arms across her lower abdomen and tried to hide the small bottle from his sight.

"Casey," Munch stated as a form of greeting.

"Hi, Munch," Casey quickly responded as she tried to get past him. She had to think quickly. He was already giving her suspicious looks. "Love to stay and chat, but Elliot Jr. is about to make me sick."

Munch nodded and stepped out of the way. Casey rushed past him, but Munch seemed a bit unconvinced that morning sickness was the real reason for her haste. He walked over into the main part of the squad room and pulled his desk chair up to Olivia's desk. "I don't like prying into people's personal business, but I think we should talk," he said in a soft voice. It was not quite a whisper, but it was less than his normal speaking tone.

Olivia's eyes grew wide with fear. She glanced across at Elliot's desk, but he was not back from a stakeout with Fin. Apparently the two of them had started this case while Olivia was out. Whatever the reason, Elliot was not there to help her right now. "A-about what?" Olivia asked. She had to remain calm. Things were not necessarily as bad as she presumed them to be.

"Casey," Munch answered.

Olivia gave a mental sigh of relief. "What about Casey?"

"I don't know if she's still…well, frankly I'm not sure if she's still pregnant," Munch whispered. "Not that I'm looking, but she hasn't gained an ounce. She seems tense whenever she's around me."

Olivia's mouth was dropped wide open. "Casey's pregnant?" she asked.

"Oh," Munch began. "You didn't know that. God, I'm an ass. I just assumed that she or Elliot told you already."

"It's a valid assumption," Olivia said. "Wait, Elliot knows, too? Who else knows? Cragen? Fin?"

"I haven't told anyone except you," Munch answered. "I don't know who Casey or Elliot might have told. Presumably Cragen and Branch know about all of this, but I'm not going to be the one to confirm that. Especially now that it might be irrelevant."

Olivia nodded slightly. She still could not believe that Casey had not told her. "When did you find out?" she asked.

"Couple weeks ago," Munch answered. "The day after you first came back. You were gone, but Casey and Elliot were there. Elliot was acting like a jerk about the whole thing, too." His voice lowered. "And if you ask me, he still is. I would hate to be in Casey's position considering how Elliot's acting around--"

"Hey," Casey quickly interrupted from behind Munch. She had heard the beginning of Munch's little speech, and she knew that her Olivia's secret would be blown if she had not interrupted.

Olivia looked up at the young lawyer. "Casey, you're pregnant?" she asked in astonishment. If this was something that Casey wanted, then Olivia was more than happy for her.

Casey could feel her face getting warm. She had to make this conversation brief so she could pull Olivia away from Munch and explain the truth. "Yes," she said finally. "Yes, I'm pregnant." She smiled slightly. "I didn't tell you before because…" Come on, bubblehead, think. "Olivia, I wanted to tell you. Believe me, you were one of the first people who came to mind when I found out I was pregnant. I just didn't know how you would react, especially given your history with the father."

Casey knew what the next words out of Olivia's mouth would be. She had to get rid of Munch before Olivia asked it. "And I think this is a conversation that Olivia and I need to have in private," she added with a look at Munch.

Munch nodded as he rose from the chair. He allowed Casey to sit down. "Of course," he said. "Just remember that I'm here for you, kiddo," he added as he pat her back gently. He started to walk towards the exit door of the unit. "I'll be outside."

As soon as he was gone, Olivia spoke. Her tone was one of excitement. "Who is this guy? When's your due date? Mine's May twenty-second, but yours might be a little earlier judging by when Munch said he found out. Have you started shopping for maternity clothes?"

Casey's eyes were wide in amazement. She had not seen this side of Olivia before. "Liv, slow down," she commanded. "I'm not pregnant."

"What?" Olivia asked. "You just told me you were."

"I was also just in front of Munch who is under the assumption that I am," Casey explained.

"Why would Munch assume that you were pregnant?" Olivia asked. She looked at Casey closely. "If you gained any weight, it's not noticeable."

"Thank you," Casey began. "I think…Anyway, there is a reason. Do you remember back when you had your first OB/GYN appointment?" Olivia nodded. "Well, I know Elliot wanted to be there, but he couldn't remember the address or something. While he was looking it up, I had to talk to him about…well, about you. Elliot left the screen up, and Munch accidentally saw it. He came up with the Casey-is-pregnant-with-Elliot's-baby theory. Since Elliot and I wanted to keep your pregnancy secret, we went along with it until you were ready to tell everyone."

"Oh," Olivia said a minute after Casey had finished.

"No pressure, but it's been five weeks since Munch found out about my so-called 'pregnancy'. You're right. I haven't gained any weight. This can't go on much longer."

Olivia nodded. "I know," she admitted. "Once everyone's here, I'll tell them."

((I hope to have the next chapter up by next weekend. Until then, read, review, enjoy. You're the best.))