- But you weren't married.
The words of Detective Olivia Benson of the Special Branch, hurt Eames deeply.
They were so cold, so hard...
Yes, they had never been married, or even a couple.
But what she felt for Goren was stronger than anything.
And then, did one have to be married, to declare it as a relationship?
Many couples didn't get married and lived together, and that didn't mean that they didn't love each other.
On the contrary...
Alex looked at Benson.
If you only knew...
Yes, they had never been married, or even dated...
And yet she had something of him, something very real, something that was a part of him. Something that proved that you could love someone without being with them.
Goren had given her the greatest gift of her life.
That one night, when they slept together... From that night, Francès, their daughter, was born.
But Olivia didn't know that.
Yes, they weren't married, nor did they have any plans to marry.
But Francès was there.
And his little girl had helped him to get his life back on track since his father had left.
If Francès had not been there, she does not know how she would have survived without Bobby!
Between them, there was this promise...
A promise so hard to keep, especially since the day she learned about her pregnancy, and even more since the birth of Francès.
She wanted... Wanted Bobby in her life.
Even tortured...She would take him...
Benson pulled a picture out of her wallet and looked at it carefully.
There was a little brown boy in it.
- This is my son Noah... She handed the picture to Alex, who took a look at it. This is my adopted son!
Alex was moved by the sight of such a strong-willed woman in adoration of her little boy's picture.
Olivia may have seemed cold at first glance.
But when you saw the way she looked at her son, you understood that underneath her shell was a very gentle, affectionate person.
- I have a little girl...
Olivia turned her full attention to Eames.
So Alex with a child too...
Alex held a small silver locket in her hands, which was right next to a small silver ring.
She opened the locket.
Her eyes turned sad.
- This is Francés...Alex had tears in her eyes. She is the living image of her father!
Olivia looked at a puzzled Alex whose face had become distorted with pain.
Something bad must have happened to make Alex look like this.
She placed her hand on Alex's, smiling.
- If you need to confide in me, don't hesitate! In Benson's brown eyes, she could see her concern. It's not the lieutenant who will listen to you...but the mother!
Alex appreciated her support.
But how did he tell her that Frances was none other than the daughter of his former partner.
That they had slept together once, and that from this one time was born Francés.
And how to explain the promise they had made to each other...
She had never told anyone the circumstances of Francés' birth, nor those of his father's departure.
But could she understand?
- I miss her father! She brought her hand to her eyes, wiping away the tears that were beginning to spill down her cheeks. I wish he could have known his daughter... I wish he could have seen that she was like him... She smiled sadly, the tears flowing even more. But we made a promise...
Olivia didn't try to find out more, because Alex had just closed herself off.
And she could see that it hurt her to talk about it.
Eames was in tears, and it broke her heart.
What could she say...
What could she do...
Nothing could stop her grief, except her daughter's father.
But if she had understood correctly, they had made a promise.
But what kind of promise...
Oh so much as to make Alex unhappy.
She couldn't ask the question.
It was too personal, too intimate.
And if Eames wanted to talk about it, she would do it on her own.
