Liv was playing with Tiger on the grass, as much as she could one-handed. Tiger was still especially gentle with her, as if he understood her cast and injury. A woman in her late 30's with dark, curly hair walked down the steps next door with a stack of boxes. She and Elliot had noticed the moving truck a few days ago but hadn't met their new neighbor yet. Before Liv could stop him, Tiger bounded over to say hello, stopping in front of the woman to wag his tail energetically.

"Sorry," Liv said apologetically, but the woman laughed, immediately crouching down to play with Tiger, who ran around her enthusiastically.

"Don't be sorry; I love dogs," the woman responded. "What's his name?"

"Tiger."

She looked questioningly at Liv, who explained the shelter didn't know how he'd gotten the name.

"I'm Sarah," the woman said, shyly.

"Olivia, nice to meet you."

"It's hard to manage a dog with a cast," Sarah said sympathetically, "metacarpal fracture?"

She noticed Liv's surprise and blushed. "Sorry, I'm a pediatrician. Sometimes I forget to turn off my doctor lens."

"My boyfriend and I are both detectives. Trust me, I get it."

Sarah gestured to the boxes. "I'm trying to get the house livable so should get back to work. Nice to meet you. Bye, Tiger," she said, scratching behind his ears.

"Do you want to come over for dinner?" Liv asked impulsively. "Between the two of us, we have a 9 year old, a 15 year old and Tiger, so it's chaotic, but we'd love to have you."

Sarah hesitated. "Tiger would love to play again," Liv added. Sarah laughed.

"How could I resist Tiger? Thank you."

While Liv was on leave due to her cast, she spent more time with Sarah. She knew Sarah was also on leave from her job, although she'd never mentioned why.

Liv and Tiger were on their way home from a walk when they ran into Sarah, who'd obviously been crying. Liv looked at her in concern. "Tiger and I are about to head home. Why don't you come over for tea?" When Sarah hesitated, she added, "you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Sarah nodded and followed them home.

Once they were sitting at the table, drinking tea, Sarah asked, "you work in SVU, right?" Liv murmured agreement. Sarah paused for several minutes before continuing. "I was sexually assaulted by a patient's father at work three months ago. I'm still on medical leave because even though I recovered physically, I get panic attacks at the hospital." Liv reached across the table to squeeze Sarah's hand with her left hand.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

Sarah took a deep breath. "They gave me the morning after pill at the hospital, but I'm pregnant. Once I adjusted to the news, I'm happy about the baby. I'd been thinking about having a baby on my own for a few years. But a lot of my friends don't understand why I'm keeping her and think I'm making a mistake. I had an ultrasound today, and I love getting to look at the baby and see her growing but going to my OB's office is triggering, even though it's a different hospital and an outpatient building."

They talked for several hours, with Liv feeling a deep connection to the younger woman and sharing her own conception history and assault recovery with her.

After Noah and Eli went to bed, Liv told Elliot what Sarah had shared with her. "She asked me to tell you," Liv said. "She wanted both of us to know but has trouble actually telling people."

"Jesus," Elliot sighed. "Where is the perp?"

"In jail awaiting trial. There was extensive security footage. She said Brooklyn SVU was great, thought they handled everything very sensitively."

"Does she have any family?"

"No, her parents both died of cancer in the last few years and she's an only child. It doesn't seem like she has a lot of support around her decision to keep the baby."

"How did she react to hearing about your history?" Elliot asked gently.

"She seemed relieved that I understood and wasn't criticizing her decision. I think it was helpful that I understood what it was like to be assaulted through work. That's been isolating for her. Her attitude towards the baby was so loving and gentle. It's like she was able to completely separate the assault and the baby."

"Was that hard? he asked gently.

"A little. Like seeing who my mom could have been. But it was more powerful than upsetting. She is so protective of the baby already and wanting her to feel loved and wanted. I offered to go with her to doctor's appointments, and she agreed right away. It was like once she got past telling me, she was desperate for support. How would you feel about us offering to take a more active role in helping her during her pregnancy and with the baby?"

"Do you even have to ask?" he said, gazing at her fondly.

"I know. It's just we're still adjusting to blending our family. I wanted to make sure."

"Eli and Noah both seem to really like Sarah."

"You can tell what an amazing pediatrician she must be. She connected immediately to them."

"They'd probably love helping with things like putting together baby furniture."

"They both seem really happy about the new house and us moving in together. I was worried about how Eli would adjust," Liv said.

"Me too. He told me he was relieved you talked to him about me adopting Noah and making sure he felt okay with it, but that we aren't pressuring him to get adopted too. He said, and I quote, she's bad-ass though." Olivia snorted. "He's excited about me adopting Noah. He said he finally gets to be an older brother."

Elliot squeezed Liv's hand. "I know you've spent more time with her, but I like Sarah too. She seems like she could use some family right now. I'm confident our family can expand to embrace her."

"I love you, El."

"Love you more."

Liv settled into Elliot's arms. They held each other for a long time, both thinking about their neighbor, before either of them fell asleep.