Alright, once again reviews were not showing on the site. It's been fixed now! (Feb. 11). Meanwhile, I always get e-mail notifications so please don't hold back if you want to review! I appreciate each and every one of you who takes the time to leave a few words. Please enjoy this new chapter.

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12. Kicking

It's undeniable.

At first, she thinks it was probably some gas but then she feels it again. And again. In the same spot. It just has to be her little pea.

Olivia sits back in her desk chair, keeping her left hand on the same spot of her growing belly. She's been reading everything about pregnancies that she could find online and she knows it's possible to feel her baby already at 17 weeks, but only inside her body. She can't really feel it with her hand yet and she feels disappointed, because that means Elliot can't feel it yet either. Her eyes move to him across their desks. He's chewing his pen and is deep in thought, and it reminds her that she should be working as well. Elliot's phone rings and he glances at her while picking it up.

"Special Victims Unit, detective Stabler speaking … Yes … okay … alright. Try to … try to calm down Amber. We're … yes. We're on our way. Just stay right where you are."

Olivia stands up, ready to grab her things and head out with her partner but Elliot shakes his head.

"Sorry Liv, you can't come. Amber thinks her stalker is around."

Olivia deflates, disappointed, and sits back down at her desk. She doesn't like missing so much of their cases. She wants to be there to comfort Amber, who has been scared to death that her stalker may return. They still aren't sure that the man who is following her around, is actually the same man who raped her, but both options scare Amber to no end. Having one man out to get her is bad enough, but two?

Still, Olivia understands that she can't come along because there's the possibility of a confrontation with the stalker. Fin joins Elliot and the two men head out again without her.

"El! Let me know if you bring her back here," she calls out after her partner, and he turns around and looks at her, as if telling her wordlessly that he already knows. She still wants to do everything she can to be there for the survivors.

…

Olivia gets her chance to support another survivor soon, when they come across a pregnant young girl who has been severely beaten, and who freaks out each time someone comes close to her, for fear that they will force her to give up her baby. They haven't been able to determine the identity of her baby's father yet so they don't know if he is the one who has caused all the obvious signs of abuse on her body.

"I'm seventeen!" she keeps repeating. "It's legal! It's mine!"

Aside from her first name, it's all she has said so far.

The girl, whose name is Amaya, has been cowering in a corner of the family room but when she sees a pregnant cop come in, her eyes widen and she looks up at Olivia.

"Hey," Olivia says kindly. "I'm Olivia. Can we talk for a bit?"

Amaya's dark eyes settle on Olivia's stomach. The fact that this Detective is pregnant cannot be missed anymore since Olivia has started wearing colorful, decorative maternity bands over her growing baby bump. Right now, she's wearing pregnancy jeans, a red top and a matching red belly band with tiny yellow flowers embroided along the outline of the band.

"How far along are you?" Amaya asks with a trembling voice.

"Almost nineteen weeks."

"I'm at fourteen weeks now."

"I know. Our babies are going to be about the same age."

Olivia smiles kindly and sits down on a chair at the table.

"Won't you sit with me for a while so we can talk?"

Amaya is still hesitant, but she relaxes a little in the corner, moving her knees away from her body a bit.

"You love your little baby already, don't you?" Olivia asks, rubbing her own belly lovingly. "I just started feeling some movement ten days ago."

"I haven't felt her yet," Amaya divulges.

"You think you're having a girl?"

Amaya nods but looks down at the floor in front of her. Olivia senses that there's more to it. But she will need to unravel this enigma called Amaya little by little. She can't be rushed.

"Have you been seeing a doctor, Amaya?"

The girl shakes her head.

"But I'm taking the vitamins and stuff!" she suddenly says vehemently. "I'll be a good mother, Detective. I will!"

"Alright, Amaya. I believe you. I believe you're doing everything you can to make sure your baby will be healthy and safe. All we want, is to find the person who caused all those bruises on your body and your broken wrist. Nobody has the right to hurt you like that."

Amaya looks down at the floor again and wraps her arms around her knees. When she was first brought in to the ER a few days ago, her left cheek had been swollen so badly that she couldn't open her eye anymore. The swelling has gone down since, but the purple bruises are still visible all over her face, chest and arms, even on her dark skin.

"The person who hurt you, Amaya … is he the father of your baby? Is he the one who wants you not to have it?"

Amaya starts rocking forward a little and a few times, she seems on the verge of wanting to say something. Olivia waits patiently, suppressing the urge to kneel on the floor next to the girl and wrap her arms around her. She understands the fear of possibly losing your child and she wonders if she should tell Amaya more about herself. And then Amaya finally speaks.

"He … he doesn't know it yet."

Olivia's eyes widen, and she glances at the mirrored window, knowing her Captain as well as her partner are standing there, listening in. Olivia finally kneels next to Amaya and puts a hand on the trembling girl's shoulder.

"The father of your baby doesn't know you're pregnant?"

Amaya shakes her head.

"No. He doesn't."

"So who beat you up, honey? If it wasn't him?"

"He'd never hurt me! He loves me!" Amaya suddenly blurts out. "And when he gets out of jail, we're gonna be a family, no matter what anyone says!"

Amaya starts crying, wiping her cheeks furiously with her good hand. She clearly doesn't want to seem weak. Things are beginning to make more sense though and Olivia glances at the window again.

"Honey, is someone in your family against this pregnancy?" Olivia asks quietly.

Amaya bows her head, resting her forehead on her knees.

"You know, no matter what they've told you - once we catch this person, they won't be allowed anywhere near you. We'll make sure of that."

Amaya sobs a little louder and Olivia rubs her back gently.

"No one can force you to give up your baby if you don't want to, Amaya. No one."

Amaya tries to stop crying and takes a few deep breaths.

"That's it honey. Just breathe. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. And your baby too."

"But where am I gonna live? Tony isn't coming out for another four months."

"You're living with your parents now, aren't you?"

Amaya nods and then whispers almost inaudibly,

"I can't go back there."

Olivia asks the young girl urgently,

"Amaya. Did your father do this to you?"

Amaya's silence is an answer in itself.

"Does he want you to get an abortion?"

Amaya sniffles but stays silent.

"All you have to do is tell me 'yes' and we're picking him up, honey."

"He'll be back out in no time. I've heard the stories and I've seen it happen."

Olivia closes her eyes for a moment and bows her head. It's another family tragedy.

"What do you think will happen if we don't pick him up and let you leave here? Don't you think he'll hit you again? Maybe try to hit you in the stomach?"

"He already tried that," Amaya whispers. "But I can fight. I'll fight for my baby. I'll never give her up. I even got a job the other day and when Tony gets out, I wanna go back to school. Tony always says I'm so smart and he'll support me. How can daddy be against that?"

Olivia knows that's Fin and Elliot's cue to go and pick up the father while she tends to Amaya. Now that the girl has finally pointed the finger at her father and has given them her address, she's utterly drained. She lets Olivia convince her to sit at the table and to eat something and after another half hour, Amaya is much more relaxed and they can talk about happier things, like baby supplies and names for their babies.

"I know Tony would want a daughter so that's why I'm hoping we're having a girl. Does your husband want a boy or a girl?" Amaya asks her innocently.

Olivia bites her lip and looks down at her baby bump. She rubs it lovingly and tells Amaya,

"Actually, I don't have a husband. I got pregnant accidentally on vacation."

"Oh … but you're keeping it, right?"

"Oh yes," Olivia says, smiling widely. "I've always wanted to be a mother."

"Me too."

"Will your baby grow up without a daddy?" Amaya asks innocently. "Does the daddy know about it?"

Olivia shakes her head.

"No. I haven't told him."

"Why not?"

She bites her lip before admitting,

"I guess I'm scared that he won't want it."

For Amaya's sake, she leaves out her fear of having her baby taken away from her.

"You're gonna tell him after the 24 weeks are over?" Amaya asks her.

Olivia has to admit she hasn't thought of that before and she is still thinking about it long after Amaya's father has been arrested and Amaya has been taken to a shelter for battered women. She's home, sitting on the couch and rubbing her belly while she thinks things over. She knows that she will need to tell Miguel at some point, even if she'd rather not tell him at all. Elliot hasn't said anything but she knows that he will always say that the father has a right to know, no matter what. And she knows that Elliot will be there for her, every step of the way, even if things get difficult with Miguel. Waiting until after the New York abortion threshold would at least eliminate one problem. He won't be able to tell her to get rid of it anymore. Not that that would matter, since she is going to have this baby regardless of what Miguel wants. Still, somehow the idea of telling him at 24 weeks sticks with her.

Suddenly, she feels a thump underneath her hand. She isn't sure if she actually felt it with her hand, but she knows it's her little pea, who isn't so little anymore. It's as if her baby is telling her that yes, she will need to tell Miguel at 24 weeks. He has a right to know.

Olivia hears the sound of a key in the door and watches Elliot come in. He smiles when he sees her, her hands resting on her belly.

"Having a chat with little pea?" he asks her as he shrugs off his coat and hangs it on the rack.

"Little pea is getting big," Olivia replies. "He's more like an oversized potato now."

"Little tater then," Elliot grins as he approaches her.

Olivia laughs out loud.

"Little tater. That's cute. Actually, tater has been kicking up a storm in there."

"Do you think I could feel it now?" Elliot asks, and she knows he has been waiting for it.

"I don't think so El," she says honestly, "but you can try."

Elliot sits down next to her and places his left hand over her belly. Olivia grabs it and moves it to the spot where she's felt a kick just now. They are a little disappointed when he really can't feel anything yet but they sit together contently for a while afterwards.

"Hey El," Olivia says after a while.

"Hmmm?"

"I think I should tell Miguel at 24 weeks."

...

Dun dun.

A/N: before y'all respond to when a woman can feel her baby, I felt my first at 16 weeks so there you go. I have put my own experiences with my pregnancies in this story, so rest assured - whatever I write, is actually possible. Daddies (and best friends) will have to wait a bit longer though.

Having said that - please leave a review. I love getting them!