Chapter 7: Meeting Ms. Sandoval

Queens SVU – Monday, August 1st – 8:30 a.m.

Elliot sat at his desk, chewing on his pen and leaning back in his chair. His eyes scanned across his desk at his collection of pictures, a way to bring a tiny piece of his family to work with him. He smiled when he saw a family picture that was taken at the 4th of July picnic resting alongside pictures of Kaitlyn. One featured her as a newborn after coming home from the hospital and a recent one showed her sitting in her swing flashing that infamous smile Elliot adored.

"I brought you a cup of coffee," said Mike, placing a cup on Elliot's desk and walking over to his chair.

"Thanks man." Elliot took a sip from his mug. "Is this the Starbucks coffee from the store?"

"I think so," replied Mike. "There was bag in the cabinet at the coffee station. Capt. Taylor was talking about how much he loved it."

Elliot grinned. "I hope we keep it."

The doors in the squad room swung open and surprisingly, Munch and Fin came through and greeted Elliot and Mike at their desks.

"Hey!" called out Elliot. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're trying to find some old records on our latest victim," replied Munch. She was found this morning raped and beaten to death. We think that the perp may have had some past offenses here in Queens."

Capt. Taylor saw the two men visiting with his detectives from his office. He assumed they must be Munch and Fin so he walked out of his office to greet them, "You guys must be from Stabler's old unit at the 1-6 in Manhattan."

Fin nodded, "I'm Fin Tutuola and this is my partner, John Munch." Both he and Munch shook hands with Taylor.

"It's good to meet you." He pointed towards the file room. "You can find most of the information on your guy in there. Knock yourselves out."

"Thank you, sir," Munch walked over to the room and started looking through the files.

Meanwhile, Elliot and Sandoval went back to paperwork on their latest case while Munch and Fin rummaged through the file room. They later found what they needed, said their good-byes to Elliot and Mike, and walked out.

Rosa Sandoval's Apartment—Upper West Side—Saturday afternoon 2:30 p.m.

Elliot and Olivia arrived at Sandoval's mother's apartment building with Kaitlyn in tow. Today was the day that they were to meet with Rosa, become acquainted with her and make a decision about Rosa watching her. They came out of the elevator and approached her apartment door. Olivia knocked on the second-floor apartment and Rosa answered it.

"Hello! It's good to see you. Come on in," she said, happily. She opened up the door wider to let them in, especially since Elliot was carrying Kaitlyn in her carrier. She was a short, older lady in her late 50s with short, dark hair and had a thick Spanish accent.

They sat down on the couch after Rosa told them to make themselves at home. Elliot lifted Kaitlyn out of the carrier so Rosa could see her. The baby looked adorable in a blue top underneath a denim jumper dress with a little white ribbon tied to her hair.

"It's nice to see you guys again," said Rosa. "Miguel has told me so much about you, Elliot."

"It's great to see you too, Ms. Sandoval."

"Oh, please call me Rosa." She waved at the baby and made a funny face. "Hello, little miss Kaitlyn. You're so pretty. Yes you are." Kaitlyn smiled shyly and looked at Rosa in awe.

"Would you like to hold her?" Olivia offered, looking at Rosa and then towards Elliot.

Rosa was delighted. "I would love to."

Elliot handed his daughter over to Rosa, who began talking to Kaitlyn in a soft voice. Olivia sat on the edge of the couch next to the chair where Rosa was sitting. She smiled at the interaction between them.

"She can be shy around other people sometimes and it can take a little while for her to warm up. At home, she is usually very loud so she can get some attention."

As Rosa held the baby and became acquainted with her, she discussed with Elliot and Olivia their work schedules and when she would start keeping Kaitlyn.

"Well, my oldest daughter Maureen will be moving into her dorm over at Columbia in a couple of weeks," Elliot mentioned. "My youngest three will start school the day after Labor Day."

"Maybe around the end of this month?" Olivia said to Elliot.

Elliot looked at Olivia and agreed. "That would be fine." He turned back to Rosa, "Will that be all right for you?"

"It sounds perfect," said Rosa. She glanced back at Kaitlyn, who was starting to warm up as she smiled and played with the buttons on Rosa's blouse. "I love this angel already. She is a doll."

"Thank you," said Olivia. "She's a true sweetie, but she can be a handful sometimes."

It was around 4:00 and getting past nap time so Olivia and Elliot decided they should get back home. They said their good-byes to Rosa and promised to keep in touch before she started keeping the baby for them.

As they walked outside to the car, Elliot and Olivia realized that they had made the right decision in letting Rosa keep their daughter. After all, Ms. Sandoval seemed to be a very trusting person and wouldn't do anything to harm her.

TBC