A/N: There are a couple of time jumps in this chapter but nothing major. Hope the jumps in time don't make this next plot seem rushed and please don't hate me *hides face*. Also, as I've said before, I'm from the UK so I'm just assuming that kids in kindergarten do some sort of Physical Education as it is a requirement where I'm from. xxx
"Hey, I'm home!" Olivia called out into her apartment. It had been weeks since she had hired Lauren as her babysitter and so far everything was going swimmingly. There had been no more reports about Maria falling asleep in class and the child seemed to love her new 'friend'. Olivia also felt more at ease knowing that the person taking care of her child wasn't a complete stranger.
"Hey, Liv. Did you have a good day?" Lauren stood up from the dining table where she had been sat doing her homework whilst Maria was in her room playing.
"Yep we had a lucky break in one of our cases so my boss let us leave early." Olivia explained. It was only five thirty so she was home in time to cook dinner and spend some quality time with her daughter. "How was Maria? I hope she didn't give you any trouble. Where is she by the way?" She had looked around the open plan living area only to see that her child was no where to be seen.
"She was a little angel as always. I sent her to go play in her room after I helped her with her homework." The teenage replied before calling out over her shoulder, "Maria! Your mommy's home!"
The two stayed quiet knowing what would come next. As if on cue, little footsteps were heard running in their direction. The light thudding sound was followed by a chanting of, "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
Olivia crouched down and held her arms out just in time to catch Maria who was barrelling towards her. "Hey, Honey." Liv greeted just as enthusiastically as her daughter had her. The two parted and Olivia stood, directing her next words to Lauren who was watching them with a soft smile on her face. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I was thinking of ordering take out. My treat."
"Uh, ok sure. I'll text mom and tell her not to cook me anything." Lauren agreed.
An hour later the three of them were sat around the dining room table tucking into their Chinese food. Olivia and Maria both seemed like they were enjoying their meals but Lauren, on the other hand, just sat silently as she moved her food from one side of the plate to the other. It didn't take long for Liv to take note of this and she decided to broach the issue. Over the past weeks, Olivia had grown close to the sixteen year old and had began to think of her as a somewhat pseudo niece. This wasn't the first time Lauren had joined the two – and on occasion, Elliot, - for dinner so it was safe to say she had become a part of their makeshift family.
"What's wrong, Lauren? Don't you like the food? I know it can be hit and miss sometimes." Olivia questioned as she placed her fork on her dinner plate.
Lauren followed suit and sat up a little straighter in her chair. "The food is fine and I'm honestly alright."
"Well I know that's not completely true. You've got that look on your face when you have something on your mind. Come on, you know you can talk to me." Liv assured the young blonde.
Lauren sighed and braced herself before she spoke next. "It's just...there's this boy. His name is Clay."
"A boyfriend?" Olivia asked, her eyes lighting up in uncharacteristically girlish excitement. She had never had too many friends at school which meant she never really participated in 'girl talk' or gossip. Liv couldn't help but feel like she was reliving her teen years when she was around Lauren who often confided in her when she wasn't comfortable talking to her own mother regarding certain topics.
Lauren sheepishly looked down before meeting Olivia's eyes once again. "Yeah. We've been friends for a while but we've been officially dating for a couple of months now but-"
"But what, Sweetie? Is everything ok between you guys? He's not pressuring you in anyway is he because I can-" Olivia couldn't help but jump to conclusions. She had heard this story plenty of times over the years. Boy meets girl. They start dating and after a while the boy forces the girl into doing things she's not comfortable with.
The teenager's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No. No. It's nothing like that. Clay is a really sweet guy. He's a bit shy actually he keeps to himself at school. A bit like me. I guess that's why we connected so easily." She couldn't help but gush. This Clay was her first boyfriend so she couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach every time she even just thought about him.
Liv sighed in relief and chuckled at herself. "I'm sorry, Lauren. Sometimes I can't help but think the worst. I guess that's one of the many downsides to my line of work." She told the girl who simply waved away her apology. "So...what's the issue? He seems like a decent boy."
"Well, now that I've started looking after Maria we – that is – Clay and I, don't really get to see each other that much outside of school any more. I know I get weekends off but on Saturday's I see my dad and on Sunday's he has baseball practice." Lauren explained.
Olivia began to panic slightly, feeling like she knew where this conversation was going. She always had concerns that Lauren babysitting for her would eventually disrupt her life and Liv didn't want that to happen on her watch. Lauren was indeed a god send for Olivia and Maria but if Lauren wanted to quit, Liv couldn't stop her. "Oh, Lauren. It's fine I understand but, do you think you could wait it out until I found someone else?"
Lauren frowned due to her confusion at her employer's question. "Someone else? I don't understand, Liv."
"You want to give up your babysitting duties to spend more time with Clay. I get it and you don't have to feel bad-"
"No, Liv. That's not what I'm saying. I love looking after Maria. I would never give up this opportunity." Lauren reassured the brunette whose turn it was to become confused. The young girl sighed as she once again worked up the courage to put in her request. "Do you think – I mean, would it be ok if maybe Clay came over a couple of times whilst I'm here? Not only are we dating but I also tutor him in Math and I will feel bad if his grades begin to drop on account of me not being there for him." The sixteen year old was rambling and she knew it. She was aware of how Olivia felt when it came to strangers being around her daughter and she didn't want to betray her trust.
Olivia remained silent for a few moments thinking over what Lauren had asked and just before Lauren figured she was going to say 'no', the NYPD detective eventually voiced her opinion. "Before I make a decision I would like to meet Clay first." Lauren went to speak but Olivia jumped in to stop her. "Don't worry. I'm not going all 'cop' on you guys. I just want to make sure that Maria feels comfortable around him and see how he interacts with her. It will make me feel more at ease if I knew that Maria was happy with someone different being in our home."
Lauren sighed in relief. "Oh, Liv. I understand completely and don't worry, Maria's going to love him. Clay's always talking about his kid brother and how much time they spend together." She gushed before surprising both herself and Liv by giving the older woman a quick hug. "Thank you so much."
Olivia smiled at Lauren once she had sat back down, the teenager was blushing from her embarrassment. Liv laughed in a non-teasing fashion. "You're welcome. Now, eat your dinner or else it will get cold."
A Week Later.
"Lauren can you play a game with me?" Maria asked as she walked over to the kitchen area where the babysitter was preparing dinner.
Lauren sighed and bent over slightly so she became eye level with her charge. "Not right now, Maria. I'm in the middle of making dinner and I don't want it to burn."
Maria looked down slightly. Her mom was late home from work again which meant that Lauren was the one who had to make sure she had dinner. Usually when Olivia was home on time, Lauren would stay until dinner was ready and play with the five year old. Maria looked up when Lauren spoke again.
"Why don't you ask Clay to play with you? He likes games." Olivia had agreed to allow Clay over at the apartment after meeting him over dinner. He had impressed the detective with his polite mannerisms and the fact that he was willing to socialise with her daughter. Lauren was relieved that Olivia gave them permission because it made it a lot easier for herself to get things done including her homework and cooking dinner on the few occassions when Liv had been late home.
This time it was Maria's turn to sigh. "I wanted to play dress up but he's a boy. I don't have dress up clothes for boys."
Lauren stood up straight and tapped her finger on her chin as if she were deep in thought. "Hmmm. You know what? Clay loves board games and I think 'Candy Land' might be his favourite." She told the little girl whose eyes lit up. Lauren inwardly chuckled to herself as she knew she would get that exact response. The game made for kids was Maria's favourite.
"It is?! Ok, well I guess we can play that." Maria shrugged before going over to the living area where Clay was watching TV. "Clay?" She caught the teenager's attention by tapping him on the arm.
Clay lowered the volume of the TV and shifted his focus to Maria. "What's up, Squirt?" He asked.
"Can you play 'Candy Land' with me? Lauren is too busy making dinner." The little brunette told him and hoping he would say 'yes'.
"I don't see why not. Can't have my little friend being bored now, can I?" He asked as he stood up from the couch.
Maria jumped up and down in excitement and tugged on his hand. "Let's play in my room. Mommy doesn't like board game piece's getting lost in the living room." She rambled as she led Clay down the hall and towards her bedroom.
They were on game number three when Clay began to get bored of the stupid kid's game which led him to coming up with an idea to spice things up. "Hey, Maria?" He asked as Maria quietly counted how many moves she made to herself. Clay waited until she looked up at him expectantly before he carried on. "You're a big girl right?"
Maria smiled wide and nodded. "Yep. Mama says so. She even lets me pour my own juice now." She told him proudly.
"Wow! You are so grown up!" Clay enthused. "Do you want to play a different game? This one is for little kids." He said gesturing towards the board game that he thought was ridiculous.
Maria looked between the game and the teenager who sat opposite her on her bedroom floor. "But all my friends like this game."
Clay chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah but I don't think they're big boys and girls like how you are. I bet their mommies don't let them pour their own juice either."
The small Latina shrugged her shoulders. "I guess not." She somewhat agreed before giving her answer on whether or not she wanted to play a new game. "I suppose it will be fun to learn a new game."
"Good. I'm so excited. We're going to have a great time. Go wait on the bed and I will pack up the game. I'll explain this new game when that's done." Clay said and, as he began to put the board game piece's into the box, Maria did as he had told her.
Clay went over to the bed and sat down beside the child. He pushed a piece of hair out of her eyes and smiled. "Ok first you have to lay down on your back." He told her.
Maria started to feel a sense of panic when he said this. It just reminded her of the 'games' Richard and his friends had played with her. "I-I don't think I want to play any more. I'm going to go and watch TV." She got up to leave the room but was jerked back towards the bed by Clay who without hesitating threw her onto the piece of princess furniture. The little girl went to scream but was prevented from doing so by Clay as he clamped his hand over her mouth.
"Scream and it will only make things worse." He whispered darkly into her ear.
Two Weeks Later.
Olivia and Elliot were walking along the side walk on their way to get lunch for the rest of the squad when Olivia's cell phone rang. She paused her footsteps momentarily to retrieve her cell and looked at the caller ID. "It's Maria's school." She told her partner before answering the call. "Olivia Benson."
Elliot carried on walking along the street but stopped and turned when Olivia once again came to a sudden halt, this time standing in the same place for a prolonged length of time with a bemused expression. "I don't understand." El heard her respond to whoever was talking into her ear. "Right now? Is that really necessary?" Seconds later and Liv had closed her eyes and held a hand up to her forehead. "Ok. No, no. It's no problem. I'll be there right away. Thanks. Bye."
Olivia hung up the call and returned her phone to her jacket pocket. Elliot frowned at the open mouthed look he was receiving. "Something wrong with Maria?" He asked.
"Yeah. She's been out of control all day apparently. Disrupting the class, pushing the other kids and swearing at her teacher. Where-I mean, I never curse in front of her. Where would she have got words like that from?" Liv's question was more to herself than to Elliot.
"What? They must have the wrong kid. That doesn't sound like Maria." Elliot shook his head in disbelief. The little girl never misbehaved on purpose and was always as good as gold at school.
"It was definitely her. I heard her screaming in the back ground. They're holding her in the principal's office and need me to to collect her right away. Do you think you could cover for me with the captain?"
The distressed look on Olivia's face was more than Elliot could take and so he answered her straight away. "Of course, Liv." He watched his partner hurry back towards the precinct to collect her car and called out to her. "Call me when you've got the whole story!"
Olivia rushed through the main entrance of the elementary school, not even caring that she had made a commotion when the doors slammed against the wall. She quickly made her way over to the schools reception and addressed the receptionist hurriedly. "Olivia Benson. I'm here for my daughter, Maria Benson?" She looked around sharply when she heard a loud crash followed by a familiar voice screaming out 'Don't touch me!'.
"Right this way, Detective. She won't let anyone near her. Every time someone tries, she throws anything and everything within her reach and she just won't stop screaming. Miss Holly had to call Principal Nicholls to extract her from the classroom due to her being so disruptive." The receptionist told her as they made their way towards the principal's office.
The receptionist knocked before opening the door and spoke directly to Matthew Nicholls. "Maria's mother is here, Principal Nicholls!"
"Let her in!" Olivia heard the man yell over her daughter's screeching.
The receptionist stepped aside allowing for Liv to enter the room. What she saw shocked her. There were things smashed on the floor and papers were every where. She spotted Maria in the furthest corner flailing her arms around as if she was lashing out at an imaginary attacker. Even after all the little girls nightmares or very rare tantrums, Olivia had never seen her baby behaving like this before. Principal Nicholls went to approach the girl again but Olivia stopped him by stepping in front of him.
"Let me speak with my daughter. I'll get her calm and then we can talk." She said to him firmly. Liv then turned to face the child who had come to a sudden halt once she heard Olivia's voice. It was as if she had suddenly just noticed that her mother was there. "Maria? I'm coming over, Sweetheart. It's me. It's Mommy." Liv spoke gently as she approached the girl as if she were a runaway horse that needed to be broken in.
Once she was close enough, Olivia crouched down and went to lift Maria's chin but withdrew her hand when the child slapped at her. "Maria!" Liv admonished sharply. "We do not hit. How many times do I have to say that?" The truth of the matter was, the brunette detective had noticed a slight change in her daughter in the recent weeks. She had found herself putting the child in time out more often and on a few occasions, Maria had become defiant and had lashed out physically when her mother had taken a hold of her arm to lead her to the corner that was reserved for said time outs. However, Olivia had never seen Maria with this much defiance and attitude in her eyes or her demeanour.
Maria continued to stare at Olivia, not even offering her an apology for her 'assault'. The mother and daughter continued to stare each other down and Olivia was the one who finally broke the silence between them. "So you don't have anything to say?"
Nothing.
Olivia sighed and pointed to the couch that was against a wall in the office. "Go and sit on that couch and don't move. Do I make myself clear?" Her tone was low and dangerous and a tone she had only used with her daughter a couple of times. This time, instead of being ignored, Olivia was relieved when Maria decided to come to her senses and marched herself to the appointed couch. However, Maria's contempt was just as strong as before as she sat on the leather furniture and crossed her arms defiantly.
Liv stood and turned to face the principal who gestured for her to take a seat in the chair opposite his desk. "Detective Benson, I'm afraid this isn't the first time Maria has behaved in such an appalling way. Today was just the tip of the iceberg. Her antics range from refusing to do her work to intimidating the other students."
Olivia's eyes widened. 'What the fuck is happening? Where has my sweet baby gone?' She couldn't help but think to herself before she realised Principal Nicholls was waiting for her to offer up an explanation. Unfortunately for herself as well as everyone involved, Liv only had more questions regarding the situation they found themselves in. "But what happened today? What sent her into that meltdown I just walked in on?"
Nicholls sighed and clasped his hands together on top of the desk. "Honestly, all I know is that Maria and her class were about to start their weekly gym class. All the other students had changed into their gym clothes but then Miss Holly realised that Maria was still in her regular school garments. The teacher told her to change but Maria just ignored her so Miss Holly started to try and help her and that's when Maria just started screaming and throwing toys and stationary around the classroom. Your daughter even went as far as calling Miss Holly a 'fucking bitch'."
Olivia snapped her head to look over at Maria who refused to meet her eyes. She had never spoken any such words in front of the girl and couldn't help but wonder wear she had heard picked them up. Elliot also made it a point to refrain from using profanities of any kind. Liv turned to face the principal once again. "Principal Matthews, I'm so sorry for the disturbance my daughter has caused today or any other days. I can assure you I will have a very long talk with her as soon as I get her home and I promise there will not be any repeat performances from now on. I'm sure that tomorrow-"
"Detective, I'm afraid that due to the nature of Maria's...'disturbance' today we have no other option but to suspend her for the rest of the week." Nicholls told her matter of factly.
"Suspended?! She's five!" Olivia exclaimed in shock. Sure, she had known that it was a possibility for Maria to one day maybe be suspended from school but not until she was at least a teenager and had been caught smoking or something alike. Up until that day, she didn't even think that she had ever heard a child of Maria's age being kicked out of school.
"Unfortunately, today was your daughter's third strike. The other instances weren't as severe as today's events so we let her off with warnings and didn't think that they were worth notifying you about. However today Maria has just gone...too far." The principal explained. In all his years of teaching, he had never seen a switch flip so quickly in a child as it did in the little girl sat on the couch across the way. Up until now, the staff at his school had nothing but praise for Maria.
Olivia sighed and ran her fingers through her hair as she stood up. "I understand, Principal. Again, I'm sorry for all the trouble. I'm sure when her suspension is up, Maria will be back to her old self.." The two adults shook hands as a way of a goodbye and after Liv walked over to the couch where her child had remained silent and unmoving. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, Maria?"
Maria looked up and glanced between her principal and mother before speaking in a dark tone of voice. "I hate this school."
Liv resisted the urge to snap and nodded towards the office door. "Ok, we're leaving now. Get up."
Maria did as she was told and walked through the door which was being held open by Nicholls. "You must think that I'm a terrible mother." Olivia said feeling embarrassed and ashamed.
Nicholls shook his head and smiled in sympathy. "Not at all, Detective. Sometimes kids just behave irrationally for no reason at all. If anything, it's proof that Maria feels comfortable enough to act out in your care – given her background."
Olivia smiled a tight lipped smile, feeling grateful for his kind words. "Thanks again. I better get her home and figure out some arrangements for her suspension." And with that Olivia left in pursuit of her daughter.
After collecting Maria's things from the reception, the mother-daughter pair left the school building. As soon as they were out in the play ground, Olivia's daughter started running ahead of her towards the school's parking lot. "Maria! Stop running right now!" Liv yelled out only to be ignored. She shook her head in dismay and picked up the pace in her steps. The detective eventually caught up to Maria who she found waiting by her car. "I don't know what you're playing at, young lady but what I do know is that you're in a lot of trouble. I can't believe what I've heard from Principal Nicholls today. When we get home you are to go straight to the corner." Olivia ranted as she unlocked the car and dumped the child's school things on the back seat.
Maria remained silent throughout the tirade and almost went to slap at Olivia's hands when her mother went to fasten her restraints. However, Liv was quicker to react this time and took a hold of her small wrist before her palm could make contact. Olivia looked deep into Maria's eyes, searching for any sign of her precious daughter. "Are you even listening to me?" She asked only for the girl to turn her head away from her. Liv sighed and this time was successful in buckling the seatbelt. Olivia only allowed a single tear of stress to roll down her face before she quickly wiped it away and climbed into the drivers seat.
It was time to go home and figure out what the hell was happening with her child.
"So she hasn't said anything?" Elliot asked his girlfriend who was at the end of the phone.
"No. As soon as we got back to the apartment I put her in a time out. When the time was up I tried to speak to her again but she refused to explain why she behaved the way she did. She's been sat at the dining table ever since, she hasn't even touched her dinner and that's been sitting there for about a half hour. Same thing happened when I gave her a snack after her time out." Olivia sighed and rubbed at her face, her arm resting on the arm of her couch. "I just – I don't know what's gotten into her. Everything has been going perfectly. I'm running out of ideas."
Elliot hated how defeated his partner sounded, he wish he could help but he was at a loss himself. "Do you want me to come over? For moral support?" He suggested.
"No. It's fine. You have work tomorrow. It's bound to be stressful day for you guys. I feel so bad but when I spoke to the captain he insisted I take the rest of the week off to figure everything out." Olivia got up from the couch and made her way over to the dining table. "Do you want to talk to her? Maybe she will listen to you."
"Sure. It's worth a shot. Put her on." Elliot shrugged even though he was aware that Liv couldn't see him.
Liv stood in front of Maria only to be met by the girl's sinister glaring. "It's Elliot. He wants to talk to you and there's nothing stopping you from eating your dinner while you listen." El heard Olivia say before he heard the crackling sounds of the phone being passed over.
"Hey, Maria. So I heard you had a bad day. Want to talk about it?" Elliot decided to go with the 'good cop' approach. The good cop – bad cop routine worked with their perps so surely it must have an affect on a five year old child. He was disappointed though as it was a tense silence what greeted him rather than the usual chipper one he was used to receiving from Maria.
Maria looked down at the plate of food in front of her and used her fork to move the food around as she held the phone to her ear in a lazy manner. She looked up at Olivia who was still watching her movements. Liv gestured for her to eat, without a second thought and without looking away, Maria swiftly pushed the plate off of the table – sending it crashing to the ground.
Olivia swore silently under her breath as food and porcelain scattered every where and bent down to begin the clean up. Whilst her mother wasn't looking, Maria ignored Elliot's second attempt to get her to speak by taking the phone away from her ear and hanging up. Liv's attention was once again on the girl when she heard the distinct sound of her phone being dashed onto the table.
"Did you just hang up on Elliot?" Olivia asked although she already knew the answer. Maria shrugged in her childlike ignorance. "Ok." Liv breathed deeply through her nose and exhaled slowly through her mouth. "Ok. I think it's time for you to get ready for bed." She spoke lowly as she pointed in the direction of the girl's room.
Maria didn't hesitate in abandoning the dining table and the mess she had created . Olivia watched her walk down the hall but was distracted from following after her to ensure she didn't start playing with any toys by her phone blaring out its annoying ringtone.
Liv picked up the phone and saw that it was Elliot calling her back. "El, I'm so sorry about that. Now do you see what I've had to put up with all day?" She asked in her exasperation.
"Wow, Liv. What was that crash I heard before she hung up?" Elliot asked. What the hell was going on at his girlfriend's apartment? After he heard the loud noise he was fully prepared to race over there.
"She deliberately pushed her dinner plate off of the table and hung up on you when I went to clean up the mess." Olivia explained as she looked at the mess that was still at her feet.
"She did what? Do you know what? I know exactly what my father would have done if I acted that way-"
"Elliot, I'm not about to spank my child. There's clearly something bothering her. I just have to figure out a way to get her to open up." Liv told him.
"Hmmm. Well, I'm out of ideas. Maybe Grandpa Don can put the fear of god into her? God knows it's worked with me a few times." El suggested.
Olivia chuckled a little and smiled at his little joke. "You and me both. Anyway, I've sent her to her room to get ready for bed. I need to clean up this mess and then go and make sure she's actually doing as I asked and not playing around. I'll call you tomorrow and give you an update – that's if there are any."
"Ok, Liv. When you tuck her in make sure you tell her that she's loved. That's one of the many mistakes my dad made with me after I had been punished."
"Of course I will, Elliot. No matter what, I always make sure that's the first and last thing she hears every day." Liv reassured him. The two of them said their goodbyes before hanging up, leaving Elliot to get on with the rest of his evening and Olivia to clean up the broken porcelain and food that had scattered everywhere.
After the mess that was once Maria's dinner had been cleared, Olivia braced herself for another confrontation with her daughter. She knocked on the bedroom door but didn't wait for a response and just walked into the room. She was shocked to find that the lights were out, leaving only the moonlight to illuminate the room. Liv was also surprised to see that Maria had changed into her pyjamas and was curled up in he bed, seemingly fast asleep.
Olivia gently lowered herself onto the bed and brushed a curtain of hair away to reveal the girl's peaceful looking face. She sighed into the quiet of the room. "I don't know what's going on with you, Baby Girl but I promise I'm always here for you. I'm never going to leave you because I love you so, so much. It looks like we're going to be spending the next few days together and I hope that you will open up to me so I can help you with whatever it is that's troubling you. Goodnight, sweet girl." Olivia whispered her small speech before leaning down and placing a loving kiss to her daughters soft baby cheek. She waited for a couple more minutes before making sure Maria was tucked in properly and leaving the room. She left the door cracked open slightly, just the way her little girl liked it.
As soon as Olivia left the room, Maria's eyes snapped open and she turned so that she was staring up into the darkness. A smile was on her face. She didn't have to go to school which meant her mommy couldn't go to work. She knew that her mama was upset with her but she wasn't that bothered especially since she knew that Olivia still loved and cared about her. The important thing in all of this was that she didn't have to see Clay for a while...
PS: As you are probably aware I'm from the UK. This means that I tend to use British English as opposed to American English. If this bothers any of my readers please let me know and I will try my best to fix the issue. Thanks xxx