Rollisi not disclosing yet is causing me some serious anxiety. I think I may result to believing they disclosed off screen for my own sanity.
Anyways, as always, much thanks to each and every one of you for following along. I appreciate you!
Olivia Benson slowed her already slow pace as she approached Counselor Carisi's office, she heard him talking, and didn't want to intrude. She could catch a glimpse of him through the open blinds, holding his cellphone against his ear as he waved his free hand animatedly in front of him as he spoke.
"No, yeah. That sounds great. Okay. Yeah, yeah, I can do that. Of course. Okay. Can't wait. I've been looking forward to this, too. Yeah. See you soon."
Liv paused for a moment as she saw him end the call and then sit back down at his desk. He took a moment to appreciate whatever the wallpaper was on his phone, grinning wide, before sliding it over to the side of his desk so he could return his focus to the work he had to do.
It was definitely a personal call, she determined quickly, and whoever was on the other end must've been the reason his whole entire mood seemed to shift recently.
He looked so happy these last few weeks that she honestly couldn't remember if she had ever seen him like this before. He was a far cry from the man he was not all that long ago when he was constantly fighting with his girlfriend over their different views as he prepared a speech for what was supposed to be Fin and Pheobe's wedding. And, come to think of it, she hadn't caught him downing half a bottle of Pepto before court like she had for most of last year. There was a sudden burst of confidence in his professional life, and Liv has a feeling that it was because of someone in his personal life.
"Hey, Carisi," Liv greeted as she tapped on the open door. "You have a minute?"
He turned his attention away from the files on his computer. "Of course."
"I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd bring those files you needed. I figured I'd save Rollins the trip. She has to leave early for Jessie's ballet recital." She said as she limped further into his office and sat down at in the chair in front of his desk as soon as she reached it.
"Tap dance recital," he corrected absentmindedly, already trying to come up with a polite way to rush Liv out of his office so he wouldn't be late to said recital. He had less than an hour to leave the office, drive across town, pick up a celebratory bouquet of flowers for Jessie like his dad always did for his sisters' concerts and recitals, and join Rollins in the auditorium of Jessie's dance class studio before the opening number.
"Rollins would have brought them tomorrow or I could have picked them up." Carisi quickly stood up to move the other chair closer so Olivia could prop her ankle up. "How's the ankle?"
"I have good days and bad days," she shrugged, wincing slightly as she lifted her leg.
"You need to take it easy. Just 'cause the doctor said you could work light duty already doesn't mean you need to overexert yourself. It takes time to heal. Don't push yourself too hard. You had pretty serious surgery, Cap. It's okay to slow down for a bit."
"Maybe you can explain that to Noah for me. I promised him a few weeks ago we'd go to Luna Park this weekend, but..." she trailed off, gesturing to her ankle, "I take two steps forward and three steps backwards it seems. '
"I can take him," Carisi offered.
"Oh, Carisi," she waved her hand, "you don't need to do that. I'm sure you've been busy at work and would rather spend the weekend with your girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?' He nearly panicked – he and Rollins were still trying to keep things under wraps, and he didn't think she would confide in Liv and not tell him.
"Nicole?" She supplied. "You've been in such a good mood lately, that I figured you two must've patched things up after the not-wedding."
"Oh, no. That's definitely over. It, uh, probably never should have started, honestly."
"I see..." she trailed off, skeptically. "You're sure you don't already have plans?"
"Well, I, uh, I was just to hang out with Rollins and the girls. Maybe take them to the zoo, but they'd get a kick out of Luna Park. I don't think they girls have ever been there before."
"Mmmhm," Liv said in the exact same manner his mother did when she would catch him in a lie when he was a kid.
"Please, Liv, don't ask me anything else about that." He finally pleaded after a long moment of silence between them – neither one of them wanting to cave and be the first to say anything else, but he knew she knew.
Olivia pursed her lips together and bit back a smirk. "Fine, I won't. I want plausible deniability anyways for now," she put her hands up in front of her in surrender, "so, just be on your best behavior when my kid is with you so he doesn't come home blabbing to me, okay?"
"You have my word." He assured her. "Thank you."
"Well, I'm going to get out of here now," she began as she started to stand up. "I'm assuming you have some place to be as well," she said with a knowing smile.
"Uh, yeah, I do."
"Carisi?" she began casually as she limped towards the door. When he raised an eyebrow, she continued, "I remember once you told me that all you wanted was for Amanda to be happy, and for what it's worth, I can tell that she is. I've noticed the change in her lately. It's different than how I've ever seen her before. It suits her...and you..." she tacked on softly.
"Thanks, Cap." He replied sincerely.
"And, while I am happy for both of you, maybe give Rollins a little nudge about disclosure papers."
He raised his eyebrows.
"I know that you would shout it from the rooftops, and that she's probably the one being more reserved because she still needs time to adjust to the fact that she does deserve this. But I also know what can happen if you wait too long. Don't make the same mistakes I did," she said sadly, turning away before Carisi could ask any follow up questions.