A/N: A slightly shorter chapter this time around. Hopefully my readers aren't too disappointed. xxx
A couple of months went by and by the time September had rolled around, Olivia and Elliot were happily settled into married life. Over the summer, the couple decided to take the next step in their lives together and brought their first official family home. At first they considered moving out of Manhattan but soon scraped that idea – they didn't want to completely uproot their lives by moving to a different borough.
Eventually they lucked out and came across a four bedroom brownstone not far from where Cragen resided. Olivia felt like she had found her dream home the first moment she laid her eyes on the house. It contained two separate living rooms, one was reserved for formal gatherings whilst the other was dubbed the 'family room'. At the back of the house on the ground floor was an open plan kitchen and dinning area which also gave them access to the reasonably sized back yard now kitted out with garden furniture and a swing set. There was also a door under the stairs which led to the basement. Upstairs, of course, was where the bedrooms were. One of which was Maria's playroom whilst the spare room was reserved for guests.
The new house wasn't the only new development in their lives. Elliot had also legally adopted Maria. Of course, the three of them didn't need a piece of paper to make them feel like a real family. However, the decision was made simply because Olivia and Elliot had discussed it and the couple didn't want their daughter feeling left out due to her parents having a different surname. The adoption just solidified their existence as a family – something they were all content with.
"Maria Benson-Stabler, if you're butt isn't out of bed and down here in the next thirty seconds, I'll be coming up there to get you myself!" Olivia called from the bottom of the stairs. It was the first day back at school and for some reason the six year old refused to leave her bed. Liv never usually struggled to get her child up and ready but for some reason, Maria was having none of it that particular morning.
Liv waited for a few seconds but when she still heard nothing, she sighed and began marching up the stairs. Appearing in the doorway of Maria's new bedroom, she paused briefly when she saw the little girl sat on the end of her bed with her head bowed. "Maria, what's wrong?" Olivia asked as she made her way over to the bed and sat down beside her daughter.
Maria shrugged but offered up no verbal explanation for her deflated demeanour. Her mother wrapped her arms around her shoulders and pulled her small body into her side. "Come on, Honey. You can talk to me." Liv coaxed.
The child looked up at her mother, the worry she was feeling was clear in her glazed eyes. "I'm scared about school." Maria admitted.
Olivia frowned at this and was left slightly confused. Apart from her very first day at kindergarten, Maria had never disliked or had been ever been afraid about going to school. "Why? You love school."
Maria heaved a sigh before responding. "What if the work is too hard or what if my new teacher doesn't like me? I liked kindergarten because it was fun and Miss Holly was so nice. I wish she could still be my teacher."
Liv took it upon herself to lift the girl onto her lap, sitting her sideways so they could talk face to face. "Oh, Baby. You're worrying over nothing. You are a very smart little girl and I'm sure first grade work isn't much different than kindergarten work. Also, how can anyone not like you. You're too cute for people to dislike you." She may be a little biased as Maria's mother but she received nothing but complements regarding her little girl. Maria was well behaved and had impeccable manners – she was the epitome of the perfect child, in Olivia's 'humble' opinion.
"You really think it will be ok?" Maria asked slightly unsure.
Olivia smiled and nodded. "You're going to have a great time in first grade. I would never lie to you." Once Liv was sure Maria was feeling better about her current situation, she gently slid her daughter from her lap and lowered her to the floor. "Now, I think it's time for breakfast and then you can pick out a great outfit from all the new clothes we got for you the other day."
The mother-daughter duo made their way downstairs and towards the dinning area hand in hand. Elliot had already dished up three plates of waffles and was now tucking into his own breakfast. He smiled around a mouthful of food when he saw his girls finally make an appearance. El swallowed the food in his mouth and waved them over. "You two better get these waffles down you before they get cold." He told them as Olivia and Maria took their seats at the table.
"Thanks, Daddy." Maria chirped as she began to pour maple syrup over her waffles. Olivia had to reach over and take the bottle off her once there was more syrup than waffle on the plate. The little girl shot her a cheeky grin before digging into her food.
Elliot took a sip of his coffee and swallowed. "So Maria, are you excited for your first day back at school? You'll get to see all your friends again." He asked off handedly.
Maria glanced at Olivia who smiled reassuringly before the child looked at her father and shrugged. "I guess so."
El furrowed his brow and looked at his wife who just subtly shook her head as if to say 'drop it'. Knowing that Olivia would explain once they were alone, Elliot moved on from the topic of school. "Hey so I saw an advertisement for a new dance school. It looks great. They're going to be teaching all different styles and there will be opportunities to compete in contests. Doesn't that sound cool? You could win trophies and medals."
Maria looked up from her breakfast, a wide smile on her face. "Really?! Can I go there? Please."
Olivia and Elliot smiled at each other glad that their daughter now seemed much happier at the prospect of starting dance lessons. "I wouldn't have brought it up if we weren't going to let you go. Me and Mommy are going to take you there today after school for an induction."
The girl squealed and began to practically vibrate in her seat due to her excitement as she babbled about how much she loved dancing. This went on for another five minutes until Olivia softly interrupted. "I'm so glad that you're so excited but you need to eat up. We have to leave in twenty minutes."
Breakfast was soon cleaned up after that and it didn't take long for the three of them to get ready for the day ahead.
The car journey to school was filled with laughter and an impromptu sing-a-long but as they got closer to their destination, Maria grew quieter and quieter. Olivia and Elliot noticed this but chose not to acknowledge it as they knew that bringing it up would only make their daughter feel worse.
Elliot found a spot in the parking lot and killed the engine. Olivia climbed out and opened Maria's door. After being unbuckled, Maria hesitated in exiting the vehicle. "Aren't you coming, Daddy?" She asked as she looked at the back of Elliot's head.
Elliot turned in his chair and smiled. "Of course I am, Angel Face. I wouldn't miss this for the world." He assured her before he too climbed out of the car.
Olivia and Elliot each took one of Maria's little hands in their own before walking towards the main entrance of the the school building. It didn't take them long to find the girl's new classroom and soon they were saying their goodbyes.
The two detectives were crouched down in from of their daughter who was once again feeling a little nervous. "We'll both be here to collect you once school is finished, ok?" Olivia reminded Maria as she held onto her hands comfortingly. They had cleared it with Cragen and he had allowed them to work a half day that day for this occasion. This also meant that they were able to take Maria to the taster session at the dance school instead of relying on their new sitter, Abbie.
"You promise?" Maria asked as she looked between her parents.
"Of course. I was thinking that after the dance visit we could go shopping for some dance outfits?" Elliot suggested which earned him an enthusiastic nod.
Olivia and Elliot were soon able to make Maria feel comfortable enough to enter her new classroom and after introducing themselves to her new teacher, Mr Johnson, they left the school and headed for the precinct.
The day ended up being a busy one for everyone. The SVU team had just closed a case they had been working on for weeks when they were hit with two more at once. Cragen decided to split his detectives up into two teams which meant that all four detectives were under a lot more pressure than normal. Naturally Elliot and Olivia dealt with one case whilst Munch and Fin handled the other.
Luckily for the married couple, their case was open and shut and they were satisfied that their perp would be put to justice. However, this meant that they spent a lot of their work day at their desks in order to catch up on paperwork.
Whilst Elliot got stuck in, Olivia was often found staring into space. El let this slide a couple of times but soon had to address the matter. "Liv?" He called over to the brunette who blinked and turned her head so she was now facing her husband. "What's on your mind?"
Liv sighed and shrugged. "I was just thinking about how quickly Maria is growing up. She's just so independent now." Of course, she was pleased that her daughter now had her own little personality compared to being the withdrawn child she had first met. However, this meant that Maria now had the confidence to go off and do her own thing instead of relying on her mother all the time. Olivia couldn't help but feel a little bit lost.
Elliot smiled as he reached over and took one of Liv's hands into his own. "That's what kids do, Liv. They grow up but you need to stop worrying. Maria will always need you."
"I know, I know. It sounds strange but I can't help but feel like I've missed so much in her life. I mean, I never saw her first steps or her first smile – don't get me wrong, I love her unconditionally despite the fact that I didn't give birth to her." Liv paused briefly before shrugging a shoulder. "But...eventually she's going to be a teenager. She isn't going to want to be around me as much as she does now. I guess I'm just going to miss that closeness."
Realisation dawned on Elliot in that moment. "Liv," He began, "are you saying you want to try for a baby?"
Olivia smiled sheepishly before looking down at the file in front of her. She then looked back at her husband. "I know we said we would wait a while but...what's stopping us? I mean, we're pretty settled, Maria's happy and we're not exactly getting any younger. The longer we wait, the harder it will be for me to get pregnant." She was aware that this conversation was not exactly appropriate for the squad room but there was no one else around in that moment in time.
Elliot raised his hand and smiled. "Olivia, you can stop. You don't need to convince me to have child with you. I think it would be amazing to have a little Olivia or Elliot junior running around."
Liv burst into laughter and raised an eyebrow. "'Olivia or Elliot junior'...seriously?" She asked.
"What?! Don't you think it's cute when kids are named after their parents?" Elliot questioned.
Olivia smiled softly at him as she replied. "I think we should wait until there is an actual baby to discuss names, don't you?" She then got up from her desk and went to make coffee, rolling her eyes when she heard her husband call out behind her.
"What? Is there something wrong with the name 'Elliot'?!"
A/N: I'm thinking of doing a one shot series of this fanfic. If anyone is interested let me know via a review or PM. I'm willing to take requests for those one shots so feel free to offer suggestions. x