Chapter Twenty-Four

Elliot smiled with relief as he saw Casey coming through the doors to the squad room. "Casey, perfect," he said as he grabbed her by the right wrist and dragged her towards the bathroom.

"Elliot?" Casey questioned him as she followed. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Elliot answered. "All that I know is that Olivia came here today. She's been in the bathroom for a while now, but I don't know who else is in there. There could be rape victims, and I don't want to scare them by being in there."

Casey nodded slowly. "Ok," she said as she entered the bathroom. She gasped and rushed over to Olivia. The floor around the detective was wet. Casey tried hard to squat down close enough to comfort Olivia without actually touching the floor. "Hey, Liv," she said soothingly. "What's up? Elliot's getting worried."

"Get him," Olivia begged. Her contractions were stronger. She knew that she could not move.

Casey nodded as she quickly stood up. She rushed to the door and opened it. "El," she called.

Elliot ran into the bathroom and sat down next to Olivia. He pulled her closer to him. Her head rest against his shoulders. She took a firm grip on his left hand. Elliot winced, but he did not say anything. He did not need to. "Hang in there, honey," he told her. He saw Casey pulling out her cell phone. "Casey's getting you an ambulance. It's going to be ok."

Olivia's eyes widened. It hit her. She knew that she was in labor. She knew that she would be giving birth. It finally hit her that she was going to be someone's parent. In a few hours, all of this pregnancy would be over. She would have her own child. It was a little daunting.

"Just breathe," Elliot said soothingly. "We're getting you help. Just hang in there, Liv," he whispered to her.

Olivia nodded as she focused on his eyes. She had to look at him. Maybe that way there would be no pain. She drew in one breath. She knew what she was supposed to do. She was a police officer. She did know how to deliver a child. She just never experienced it firsthand. It hurt too much. She never expected this much pain. "I can't," she said as she fell into Elliot's arms. "It hurts too much. I can't do it."

"Yes, you can, Olivia," Elliot said soothingly. "It's one of the things I love about you. Just think, this will all be over soon."

The paramedics pulled up in front of the station. The noise from the ambulance drew Cragen out of his office. He looked around the squad room and noticed Casey frantically leaving it for the outside. Elliot and Olivia were no where in sight. He walked over to Munch. "John, what's happening?"

"Olivia's in labor," Fin answered. "She's in the bathroom."

Cragen nodded as he saw Casey re-entering the squad room with several paramedics in tow. He pointed in the general direction of the women's bathroom. "Down that way," he guided them.

The first paramedic quickly got Olivia onto a stretcher. The paramedic and Elliot started wheeling Olivia out towards the ambulance. As they passed through the squad room, Olivia heard the other detectives calling out words of encouragement to her. That was nice. She remembered hearing Elliot's voice as they made their way through the rest of the station. He was just telling her that things were going to be fine. She knew he was mostly saying that to make her feel better. He could not know for sure.

From there, she was transferred into the ambulance. The first paramedic started examining her before the ambulance took off. If she was too far dilated, they would be forced to deliver there. If at all possible, they wanted to avoid delivering the baby while the ambulance was in motion.

"Well?" Elliot asked as he gripped Olivia's hand.

"Five centimeters," the paramedic answered as he crawled into the ambulance with Elliot and Olivia. "You're half way to being parents."

Afternoon had gone on to evening, which had turned to night. The entire SVU was still in the squad room waiting to hear any news. Alex had joined them after leaving the D.A.'s office for the day. Fin had wanted to make some money on the baby, so he added in a bet about the baby's weight. The range was within two ounces. There was also a bet on what time the baby would be born. So far, Cragen had been losing that one. To pass time, they were tossing around a softball.

Casey sighed as she passed it over to Fin. "You know, if this waiting thing keeps up any longer, you might actually win the birthday bet," she noted.

Fin smiled. "That thought had crossed my mind," he responded as he tossed the ball over to Munch. "God, what's taking so long though?"

"Elliot, how much longer?" Olivia complained as she once again fell backwards against the bed. The action caused momentary pain. She knew she should not be doing things like that, especially with the epidural in her back, but she could not help it. This baby was driving her crazy. The doctors were not giving her more drugs. There was nothing she could do about it.

"Not that much," Elliot promised as he stroked her arms gently with his fingers. He crawled into the bed next to her, allowing her to rest her head against his chest again. She liked that.

"You said that this morning," Olivia grumbled. "I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to believe you." She sighed. Elliot did not respond. They were left in an uncomfortable silence. Before Olivia could break it, she started having another contraction. They were getting more intense and lasting longer. She hated it. Elliot was right there next to her, but he could not alleviate any of the pain. About a minute later, it had passed. She collapsed back onto the bed again.

"What if I can't do it?" Olivia asked seriously. "Not just labor, but the whole thing. The whole mother thing. What if I'm not good at it?"

Elliot shook his head as he saw Olivia's OB/GYN enter the room again. "Sweetie, you'll be fine," he assured her. "I've been your partner for the past seven years. I've seen you in all of the cases involving children. You were meant to be a mother."

Olivia's doctor nodded as she finished examining Olivia. "And you're going to be one very soon," she said. "Ten centimeters, Olivia. You two are about to be parents."

Olivia gasped as she looked up at Elliot. A warm smile fell onto her face. Although she had already started to sweat some, Elliot had never seen her look more beautiful. He got off the bed and started moving her towards one of the delivery rooms. As soon as they were there, he grabbed her hand tightly. He was prepared not to have any circulation to it until the baby was delivered. He did not mind.

Olivia's legs were spread wide apart. Olivia's doctor looked up at her. " Olivia, on the next contraction I want you to push, ok?" she asked.

Olivia nodded. She grabbed tightly to Elliot's hand and did as she was told. One of the nurses was timing her.

"Just hold on," Elliot encouraged. "You're almost there."

"Almost there my ass!" Olivia yelled back at him. "Elliot, you have no idea how much this hurts."

Elliot nodded as she stopped pushing. He had been with Kathy three times before doing this. He knew it was always better to just agree with whatever the woman said. Otherwise, he would be in trouble. The nurse told Olivia to start pushing again, but she was not. Elliot leaned over and wiped her forehead clear of sweat. "Liv, you have to do this," he said.

Olivia shook her head. "No, Elliot, I don't think I can," she argued back. "I'm sorry. I'm not meant for this. Get someone else to do it."

Elliot kissed her forehead gently. "Olivia, there is no one else. I know you can do it."

"Push," the nurse commanded like an Army officer. Elliot eyed her curiously. "Been doing this for over thirty years. They need commanding tones." She turned back to Olivia. "So, push."

Olivia groaned and screamed, but she did resume pushing the baby out. Elliot was encouraging her, but she could not even hear him anymore.

"Baby's crowning," Dr. Carhart announced. She then looked at the baby closer.

"What's that?" one of the OB residents asked.

Elliot gasped as he let go of Olivia's hand. He moved over so that he could see what everyone else was looking at. "What's wrong?" he asked.

((Author's Note: Yes, now I'm cruel and mean and all other adjectives of the same nature. Hehe. I enjoy it. Anyway, read and review. I want to get at least 300 for the story before I post the next chapter. You're all the best. Reward me and I will reward you.))