A/N: Hey! Me again! So, I now have a lot of this fanfic mapped out and as promised here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy and please leave a review. They really do encourage me to continue writing. I can't wait for you all to see what I have in store for these wonderful characters.
It had been a slow day at the precinct however, did this not mean that the squad was sitting idle. Cragen had them slaving away at their desks, filling out paperwork they had managed to get behind on. Everyone was busy typing away except once particular detective.
Olivia Benson spent most of the morning and early afternoon staring into space. She couldn't help but worry about her little girl - more specifically - wondering how she was getting on at her first day at school. Was she behind on her studies due to her time spent in captivity? Were the other children being nice to her? Had she made any friends?
"Liv?" Elliot whispered over to his partner when he caught her once again looking up at the clock on the wall. He counted that time as number ten. God knows how many glances he had missed with his head buried in paperwork. When he got no response he called out to her again, this time a little louder which seemed to do the trick.
"Huh?" Olivia grunted, her eyes wide after she had been brought back to reality.
"You're worrying about Maria again, aren't you?" El stated rather than asked. Everyone in the unit knew it but didn't acknowledge the situation Olivia found herself in, hoping that she would settle down in time.
"I can't help it, El." Liv admitted as she took a sip from her cup, grimacing at the cold and stale coffee. "What if she's crying for me again? I just can't get her sad little voice calling out 'Mommy' from my head. How desperate must she have felt to call me that? I knew it was too soon for her to start school. I mean...she still has nightmares-"
"Liv, I'm sure she's fine. Her teacher said she would call if anything happened. Until then, you just need to relax and be thankful that we have no new cases. How many DD5's have you managed to complete?" Elliot tried to reassure his partner come girlfriend.
Olivia looked down sheepishly at her desk and whispered out a quiet "two".
Elliot chuckled and looked up at the clock himself, noting that it was now one o'clock in the afternoon. "Well I, myself, am starving." He announced. "Let's break for lunch. How does the diner across the street sound? My treat."
"Ok so if I had four apples and I gave two away, how many apples am I left with?" Miss Holly asked and waited patiently until a few students, including Maria, raised their hands. The teacher smiled softly at her new student and addressed her. "Maria, you have the answer?"
"Yes, Miss Holly. You now have two apples left." Maria announced confidently and beamed with pride when her new teacher said that she was correct.
"Ok. Next question. I now only have two apples but someone gives me three new ones. How many apples do I have now?" This time it took a bit longer for the students to work out the problem and in the end the only one who was brave enough to answer was Maria."Come on guys. I know you can do these problems. You can't leave all the answering to your new classmate." She looked around at the unsure students before sighing and asking Maria once again.
"You have five apples!"
"That is correct again, Maria, Well done. I'm sure your Mommy is going to be pleased to hear about how great you were today." Miss Holly praised.
The smile fell a little from Maria's face as her thoughts once again went to Olivia. She missed her so much and she kept wondering if she would actually remember to collect her at home time. Although Olivia had told the truth about school being fun. She had even made a new friend called Tia. Unfortunately, all these good things didn't stop her from missing Liv though. "Thank you. Miss Holly?"
"Yes, Maria?" The kindergarten teacher asked.
"When can I go home?"
"Soon, Honey. Very soon." Miss Holly assured her, knowing that the child was missing her foster mother. It was very common in children who had just started school.
Maria sighed and looked out of the classroom window and thought that soon wasn't soon enough. 'Please don't forget about me, Mommy Livy.'.
After a restful lunch period and many reassurances from Elliot, Olivia felt much better and carried on with the rest of the day as she normally would. She seemed to become more alive when a new case popped up which seemed to make the day go quicker. So much so that Liv completely lost track of the time.
They were currently huddled around the board showing pictures of the victim and her injuries as well as numerous suspects. They were in the middle of debating who to bring in first when Olivia quickly glanced at the clock. Her eyes widened when she realised it was now three o'clock.
"Shit, shit, shit!" She exclaimed as she hurried over to her desk and collected her jacket and purse.
"Liv?" Don questioned in bewilderment.
"Cap, it's three pm, Maria finishes school in a half hour, traffic at this time is awful-" Liv began to ramble as she fumbled in her jacket pocket for her keys.
"Say no more. Go and get my granddaughter." Don excused her and Olivia sighed in relief as she jingled her keys in her hand.
"I'm going to have to bring her back here. I still need to figure out arrangements for her in the future-"
"Liv, it's fine. She can play in the kids interview room until you decide what to do. You better go. You don't want to be late collecting your daughter." Her boss come father hurried her along and with that, Olivia swiftly exited the squad room.
Maria sighed sadly and rested her chin on her arms which were folded on top of her desk. The big hand on the clock was now past the six which she knew meant that Olivia was late. Most of the kids had already been collected and she knew that some of the kids that were left behind were enrolled in after school programmes. She felt tears pool in her eyes when her new friend, Tia, was called because her mommy had arrived. The tears were seconds away from spilling onto her cheeks when Miss Holly called over to her, bringing her out of her fretful thoughts.
"Maria! Mommy's here!"
Maria's eyes widened and she didn't need to be told twice. She immediately jumped up and grabbed her backpack and a picture she had made for Olivia from her cubby before running to the classroom door where she saw a breathless looking Liv in a crouched position and her arms outstretched.
"Mama!" The little girl exclaimed as she ran towards her foster mother and fell into her arms with such force that Olivia almost fell onto her backside.
Olivia didn't waste any time in wrapping her arms around the five year old and breathed in her sweet smelling scent with her eyes closed softly. "Oh, Baby. I missed you so much." She whispered.
"I missed you too." Maria mumbled into Olivia's neck.
Olivia managed to stand up with Maria still attached to her. "I'm sorry for being late. One minute we had no cases and the next we did. I lost track of time slightly." She explained to Maria's teacher and hoping that Maria understood.
"That's perfectly fine. You're only a few minutes late. I've still got some students waiting to be collected." Miss Holly assured her and Olivia sighed in relief.
"How was she?" Liv enquired hoping to hear some good news about Maria's first day.
"Amazing. I told you there was nothing to worry about. You should be very proud of Maria. She's a very bright girl. She has a little homework...just a bit of reading. She's got a journal for you to make comments in."
"Good. To say I was a little worried would be an understatement." The new mother chuckled softly as she rubbed Maria's back comfortingly.
"That's understandable. The students aren't the only ones with a little bit of fear on the first day. It will disappear in a few days." Miss Holly stated, knowing it to be true.
"Ok well, I guess I will be seeing you tomorrow. Maria, can you thank Miss Holly for such a fun day." Olivia said.
Maria turned to face her new teacher and thanked her which was followed by a soft goodbye.
"Goodbye, Maria. See you tomorrow." Miss Holly responded and watched as the new addition to her class was carried towards the exit by her mother.
Once outside of the school building, Olivia gently lowered Maria onto the ground. "I'm so glad to hear that you had a good first day. Did you have fun?"
"Yep!" The little girl agreed before adding, "And guess what?!"
"What?!" Olivia exclaimed, sharing Maria's enthusiastic tone of voice.
"I even made a new friend. Her name is Tia. She sits at my table and she's real nice. We played hide and seek at recess and she said that she has a puppy! Mommy, can we get a puppy?" Maria rambled as she and Liv made their way to the car.
"Not really, Honey. Our apartment isn't big enough. A puppy needs a back yard to run around in, especially when they get bigger." Olivia let the girl down gently as she strapped her into her car seat.
Maria looked down sadly before perking up again and waving a piece of construction paper in Liv's face. "Look! I drew this for you, Mommy!"
Olivia took the drawing and smiled so wide she thought her face would split open. "Oh wow! This is really good."
"It's you and me and Elliot!" Maria explained.
"I love it. This is going straight on the fridge when we get home." Olivia told her before closing the door and climbing into the drivers seat.
"Mommy?" Maria called out.
Olivia looked at the girl through her rear view mirror. "Yes, Honey?"
"When can I see Elliot? He said he will see me after school. I miss him."
Liv smiled sweetly, glad that her child seemed to love her partner as much as she did her. "Very soon, Sweetheart. He's at the precinct waiting for us. I have a little bit of work that I have to finish up and then we can go home. You'll get to see Grandpa Don too." At this Maria cheered excitedly and Olivia chuckled to herself before starting the cars engine and heading towards the precinct.