Chapter Twenty-Two

Olivia had only been on bedrest for a week, and she was already bored out of her mind. Luckily for Elliot, he was still at work for most of the day. However, this day he would not be going in. He couldn't. It was the day Casey normally had reserved for filing. She had no court appearances. Alex had purposefully arranged her schedule so that she would be free by eleven. It was the only date that they could work on for Olivia's baby shower.

Elliot could not go into work on that day. If he did, it would have to be after the shower started. Until that point, he had to keep Olivia distracted. The bad part about the shower was that it had to be in their apartment. Alex still wanted to keep it a surprise, so Elliot would have to work extra hard in order to prevent her from hearing anything.

With plenty of cheeseburgers in hand, Elliot entered their bedroom. He found Olivia shifting uncomfortably around the bed. "You're a brave woman," he told her as he sat down next to her. He then glanced at his watch. It was almost noon. Casey would be there soon. She was doing most of the setting up. Alex would be there shortly after Casey. The guests would be there by one.

"I'm sorry, Liv," he quickly said. "I forgot your dressing. I don't know how it happened, but it did. I'll be right back," he promised her. He quickly left the room.

Olivia eyed him curiously, but she did not think about it for much longer. Her back hurt. As hard as she tried, she could never get comfortable.

Elliot walked over towards the apartment door. He unlocked it quickly. He saw Casey making her way towards him. He saw something large in her hands, so he opened the door for her. "Hey," he whispered as the two of them entered the apartment.

"Liv awake?" Casey asked. After Elliot nodded, she said nothing further. She just started setting up for the shower.

Elliot walked back into the bedroom after grabbing some dressing for Olivia. "Hey again," he said. "Sorry it took so long. The dressing was hiding in the fridge."

Olivia nodded weakly as she grabbed the dressing from his hands. She started pouring it onto her plate of cheeseburgers. "It's ok, Elliot. It's not like I'm going anywhere."

About fifty minutes later, everything was ready. Elliot managed to find Sleepless in Seattle on some channel. It provided a long enough distraction for Olivia. She did not hear anything outside the bedroom. During the movie, Elliot kept glancing at his watch. Finally, once it was five minutes until one, Elliot peeked his head out of the apartment. He claimed he was hungry for some non-cheeseburger food. He smiled as he saw Casey give him the thumbs-up sign. It did not matter if Olivia bought his excuse.

He walked back over to her. "Hey, Liv?" he said. "Can I show you something?" he asked her.

Olivia frowned slightly. "I'm on bedrest, El. You'll have to bring it in here."

"Kinda can't do that," he said as he walked over to her. "It's a bit…large." He shrugged as he knelt down by the bed. "I know you'll like it," he offered. "And I can carry you."

Olivia nodded. "The change of scenery certainly will be nice," she noted as she crawled into Elliot's open arms. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and she felt him hoisting her off the bed. She wondered what Elliot could possibly want to show her. Most of the baby things they still needed to buy were small enough to fit into their bedroom.

"Surprise!" Casey and Alex called as Elliot carried Olivia into the main room in Olivia's apartment. Streamers were along either sides of it. There were some that were pink proclaiming "It's a girl" while others were blue saying that the baby was a boy. In both cases, the gender of the baby was crossed off so that the streamers simply read "It's a baby."

Olivia was taken aback. "Wow," she said in amazement. "You…you two did all of this?" she asked as she looked at Alex and Casey.

"Well, we'd want the best for our detectives," Alex stated. She smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

Olivia nodded as she looked around at the other guests. Melinda Warner, Alex Eames and Carolyn Barek from the Major Case Squad, some of Olivia's "more than acquaintances" from the D.A.'s office. The last guest in the corner was the most shocking. Monique Jefferies. Olivia's mouth fell open at the sight of the former SVU detective. "Hey," she said as Elliot placed her down on the couch.

Monique smiled back as she sat down next to Olivia. "Well, it certainly is about time you and Elliot got together," she stated. "How are you doing?" she asked sincerely.

"Good," Olivia said. "Annoyed with the bedrest thing, but other than that I'm fine." She still could not believe it. First Alex, than Jefferies. Something was weird. With her luck, Brian Cassidy would be delivering her child. She shuddered at that thought. "What about you? What have you been up to?"

Monique shrugged. "Not much. Still working undercover in Vice," she said. "Can't stick around for long, but I did want to see this and congratulate you two in person."

The shower lasted for almost two hours. By that point, everyone had to get back to work. Casey and Alex had remained to help Elliot clean up. While they were cleaning, Olivia was sleeping on the couch. After the cleaning was done, Casey went back to the D.A.'s office to actually get some of her filing done. Fin and Munch were supposed to come by the apartment to help Elliot convert the spare room to the baby's room. While that was getting worked on, Alex was going to entertain Olivia.

Fin was the last one to arrive. By the time he was there, Olivia was awake, and she was playing backgammon with Alex. Elliot and Munch were working on assembling the crib. Fin joined them.

"Alex, really, thank you," Olivia said. "For the shower, everything. I honestly don't know what I'd do without people like you, Elliot, and Casey. You three are the best." She smiled as she rolled the dice. "I know what I'm naming the baby."

((And I'm mean 'cause you're not going to know until it's actually born. Mwahaha. But the good news is that it's our vacation. Hopefully that will mean free time for the next week or so. After that, busy as hell until May 5. Then free like a little birdie. Yay. Anyway, review please. I do love it so. The next chapter will be up either tomorrow or Sunday.))