AN: Well, I didn't mean to abandon you for more than a year and then give all of you still with me shorter chapter than usual, but here it is. This past year has been harder than I imagined, and much busier too. Comes out having a job, personal life and voluntary organisation takes time.
I wrote my first novel, in Estonian, it needs a lot of work and that took my free time right after I finished last chapter, therefore this has been in the works for about a year.
Also I read this story from start to here. It's odd how this actually reflects my life - the good, the bad and the ugly. I'll do my best to get the epilogue up as well, if it won't appear in few days, then it'll not come anytime soon.
For now I'm also gonna stop writing. On 27th I'll fly to the other side of the world to travel, to work and figure out what comes next. Therefore it's been a journey, I hope you have enjoyed it half as much as I did.
**SVU***
8.21 Pretend
Elliot unlocked the door and walked into the apartment while balancing the bag of groceries in his arms. The living room light was on and the TV was playing with Olivia in front of it. She had a couple of case files open on the desk, but they were discarded.
"I got soda, popcorn and chips," Elliot announced as he dropped the bag on the kitchen counter.
"Great," Olivia replied, but payed no real attention to him.
Elliot looked down at her and smiled. "What's on?" he asked.
"Friends. I used to love this show," Olivia replied.
"Kathleen and Maureen watched that," Elliot marked. He had of course heard of it, but he had seen just a couple of episodes and never really followed it, though he knew his older daughters had been obsessed with that.
He put his denim jacket away and walked over to Olivia on the couch. She covered the forest green couch fully, while she lied on her side. He leaned down from the armrest and kissed the top of her head, to which she rolled to her back and looked at him with tender smile.
"Do you think I can fit in there too?" he asked with a smile and looked over at the couch.
"I'm too comfortable," she said, "I don't really get why we haven't spent much time in your apartment, the couch is really good," she continued.
"Yours is better, trust me. I've slept on both," Elliot replied.
"Right now it's mine, you can sleep on it later, if you want to," Olivia suggested.
Elliot smiled, he leaned down again and kissed her cheek from upside down, "I'd much rather sleep with you in bed," he replied.
"Wise choice. The bed seems kind of empty without you," Olivia commented.
Elliot laughed.
"So how about making some room?" he asked again.
Olivia made a face and then unwillingly threw her legs on the floor and sat up.
"Thank you," Elliot said. He walked around the couch and sat down beside her, where her head had been moments before. He grabbed a pillow from armchair next to the couch and put it on his knees.
"You can get back down now," he said.
"If I do, I'm gonna fall asleep and I don't wanna sleep through the big poker game," she said.
Elliot smiled again. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her against himself, his free hand went to her lower abdomen over her gray sweatshirt. She covered his hand with hers and looked up at him. She smiled too.
"It's where the youngest Stabler is growing," he said proudly.
"You can't see or feel anything yet," Olivia said.
"I don't have to, I know our baby is there and for now it's enough. Soon I can see your belly growing and feel our kid kicking every time I want say hello and then we will meet him or her in person and it's gonna be wonderful," Elliot said while Olivia looked at him intensely.
He kissed her lips.
"It's strange, because everything is new to me, but not to you," Olivia commented.
"No," Elliot said firmly. "It is new to me, I haven't seen you pregnant before." Olivia gave him a look, which told him exactly what she meant.
"Every pregnancy is a bit different and every child is special. You know, I'm gonna be there every step on the way, every doctor's appointment, and I'm gonna be smiling like a fool at everything. The fact that I have kids, doesn't make it any less special for me, don't worry about that," Elliot said calmly.
Olivia nodded.
"When's our first ultrasound?" Elliot asked.
"Monday, at 11," Olivia replied.
"Can't wait," Elliot said with a wide smile.
"Me neither," she agreed.
Elliot moved his hand and gently pulled the sweatshirt up, then slipped his hand beneath her brown shirt and held his hand on her lower abdomen like before.
"It's amazing," Elliot decided.
"Yeah," Olivia agreed, even though her face was much less enthusiastic.
"Should we tell the kids? I wanna tell them," Elliot asked.
Olivia stayed silent, she pushed his hand slightly, but he kept it firmly against her skin.
"Something wrong?" Elliot asked.
Olivia shifted uncomfortably, she moved a bit further from Elliot and pulled one of her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around it. Elliot moved too, he angled himself towards her and sat back closer to her.
"Maybe we should put off telling people for now," Olivia suggested.
"Why?"
Olivia looked around as if she was looking for words.
"Let's wait until we know more," she finally said.
"Wait, is something wrong? Do you know something I don't?" he asked with concern.
She shook her head.
"I aborted it the last time I was pregnant. What if this time everything goes the same way? What if we tell people only to tell some weeks later, sorry it's gone, false alarm? Maybe my body just rejects it? Besides I'm not exactly twenty anymore, my age also puts me at risk of having a miscarriage. I shouldn't have told you either yet, but now you know now. Can we just keep it to ourselves until I'm past first trimester, see if I make it that far?" she asked.
"You had a miscarriage, not an abortion," he said firmly. He moved his hand a bit lower, slipped his fingers under the belt of her jeans and Olivia was ready to stop him, but then she realized, what he was looking for. His fingers traced the scar she had from her last pregnancy, the bitter memory of their fight and time apart came to his mind, but as he traced the scar he usually avoided touching, he was reminded how he pushed her away, when she needed him the most, how she was alone at the hospital mourning their loss, while he didn't even know they had lost something so important.
"Technically it was an abortion," she said, "it just wasn't my choice to have it."
He removed his hand from her scar and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"I promise to do everything in my power to keep you and our unborn baby safe," he said seriously.
"And I believe you will, but let's just put off telling people for now. We even haven't had our first ultrasound yet, I mean for all we know there might have been a mishap in the lab," Olivia tried to reason.
"Yeah, maybe Munch is pregnant," Elliot said helpfully, but Olivia gave him a look.
"There must be more than one sample at lab at the time, I mean chances are," Olivia said confidently.
"Fine, let's wait for the ultrasound and then talk again about it," Elliot agreed.
"Thank you," Olivia said with a smile.
She leaned over to kiss him, but he pulled away, when he heard the door opening and all of his four kids barged in.
"This will be the greatest game of poker ever," Lizzie announced.
"And you will lose it," Dickie added.
"Oh, you two," Maureen said.
Kathleen was the first to saw Olivia and Elliot on the couch rather cozily. "Oh, you two," she said ironically and raised an eyebrow.
"We weren't doing anything, come on, sit around the table and let's shuffle some cards," Elliot said and pulled away from Olivia. He got up and went to get the card as well as snacks. Olivia turned off the TV and moved her feet off the couch, she pulled her sweatshirt safely around her as she subconsciously tried to hide her pregnancy even though there was no sign of anything yet, and watched as the kids took a seat around the table.
Kathleen took a seat beside Olivia and Lizzie beside her, Dickie sat on the chair at the end of table, Maureen opposite to Olivia and Elliot settled on the edge of the couch beside Olivia at the end of the table. He gave sodas to all of his children, one to Olivia, who refused it and placed bowls of popcorn and chips on the table.
Richard grabbed the pack of cards and shuffled it.
"Don't you dare cheat, you punk," Kathleen teased and grabbed popcorn.
"I will win without cheating," Dickie said confidently.
"Yeah, right," Maureen said.
"Liv, you're playing too?" Kathleen asked.
"No, I'll leave it up to you kids," Olivia replied.
"But dad is playing," Elizabeth argued.
"Well, he has his ways of staying young," Olivia said with a sly smile.
"I try, thank you very much," Elliot said.
"Dad, you're getting balder, not younger," Dickie said.
"That too," Olivia agreed.
"Wait for it, one day it will happen to you too," Elliot said to his son.
"Yeah, bald Dickie, it would be so hilarious," Elizabeth agreed.
"And you will be fat," Dickie said.
"Kids!" Elliot interrupted.
Dickie and Elizabeth made faces at each other, but chose to stay silent.
"So, let's shuffle the cards, pass out the chips and see who takes home the win," Maureen said.
"It's gonna be the greatest game of poker ever," Elizabeth was certain.
Elliot looked at Olivia and smiled, while the kids all announced how they were all gonna win and how excited they were for the game. He could easily think of his and Olivia's kid sitting at the table and fighting for the win. He thought about how his kids with Kathy would accept the newest addition and for a moment he thought about, what if they wouldn't accept the new kid. If they'd reject him or her just because he or she would not grow up with them, would not share a mother and would not live with them. But he pushed that thought out of his head, he was certain they would be happy with their new sibling, they would accept him or her and be happy for him and Olivia. Even Dickie seemed to have come around after seeing both of his parents happy with new partners and it wasn't the end of the world as it seemed.
"At least dad has a good poker face," Maureen said.
"Oh, you should see Olivia, she could fool anyone," Elliot added.
"Don't oversell me, I can't fool everybody," Olivia replied.
"Then it's our luck she's not playing," Kathleen said.
Dickie passed out the cards, everybody looked at them and then at each other. Olivia peeked at Kathleen's cards, grinned and felt Elliot's eyes on her.
"I'm not helping you, mister, you're on your own," Olivia said with a smile, while Elliot pouted.
"See, dad, she's on my side," Kathleen said proudly.
"It's unfair," Elizabeth protested.
"I'm not taking any side, in fact I might as leave," Olivia said.
Elliot shook his head and placed his hand on her knee. "You'll be staying right here," he said firmly.
"How come you never wanted mom around as much?" Dickie asked bluntly.
"Dickie," Maureen and Kathleen hissed, Olivia looked rather uncomfortable at the table and Elliot froze.
"I'm just wondering," Dickie added and stared at his father and Olivia. "I mean you probably spent more time with her when you were married to mom and now you two work together and go home together. Makes me wonder if you ever loved mom."
Olivia wanted to fell into the couch and disappear. Elliot's hand on her knee seemed foreign, but he didn't remove it, the warmth from his palm burned through her jeans and his nails dug into her flesh.
"Dickie," Kathleen shouted. "Of course dad loves mom," she said.
"How can you even ask this?" Maureen asked.
Dickie smiled. "I don't hear dad protesting," Dickie said cockily, and Olivia could see Elliot in him.
"Dickie, you are crossing so many lines here that I don't even know where to start. Of course I loved your mother very much for all of those years we were married, of course I missed you and your mother when I was at work, don't ever doubt it. I bet Olivia can recall every important event in your lives, because I was so proud of you and had to share it with her. And remember this, your mother kicked me out," Elliot said roughly.
Olivia felt his nails digging into her jeans and marking her skin, she could see he was doing his best to keep himself from lashing out at Dickie. She did something bold, and covered his hand with hers, she was certain the kids saw it and made their conclusions, but it was her way of telling Elliot that she was there.
"As for Olivia, then she kept my marriage together for years, until Kathy had had enough. We have talked about this, and I will not have you disrespect her in any way. She is a huge part of my life and you'll have learn to accept that. You mother and I have moved on, we're happier than we were together and that's the most important thing," Elliot said.
"If you say so," Dickie said and raised his hands to mock giving up.
Sudden ringing of phone eased the tension in the room, both Olivia and Elliot patted their pockets to find the phone, which was making the noise. "Saved by the bell," Kathleen muttered under her breath.
"Not mine," Elliot announced, when he fished his from his jacket pocket.
"Yeah, it's mine," Olivia said, when she reached her phone and took it from her pocket. "Cragen," Olivia said to Elliot who grunted – they were on call.
"Yeah, Benson," Olivia said to the phone.
"Liv, you forgot to sign the report on the Henderson case, I have a very determined ADA to get the signature on the paper today," Cragen said.
"Right, I'll be right in," Olivia replied.
"That would be nice," Cragen said.
Olivia flipped her phone close and turned to Elliot.
"It's not a case," Olivia said quickly and Elliot relaxed visibly.
"What did he want then?" Elliot asked.
"I forgot to sign the report and Casey needs it, so she's kicking Cragen and he's kicking me," Olivia explained.
"You have to go in and sign it," Elliot said knowingly.
Olivia nodded.
"But it's poker night," Lizzie protested.
"One less person to see you lose," Dickie said proudly.
"But you'll be back, right?" Elliot asked, scared that she might not want to return.
"Yeah, of course, where else am I gonna go?" Olivia asked rhetorically.
She got up from the couch and released her throbbing thigh from Elliot's grip. Oliva grabbed her jacket from the hanger and pulled it on, then she saw Elliot standing opposite to her with a scarf in his hand.
"Stay warm," he whispered and wrapped the scarf around her neck.
Olivia smiled, Elliot pressed his lips quickly against hers, he held onto her and released her only after he felt Olivia trying to pull away.
He handed her the car keys.
"Drive safe," he instructed and Olivia agreed to do that.
Elliot went back to his kids and took a seat again. Olivia headed to the door, then crossed the living room and took her gun from the bedroom, then made another attempt to leave.
"Kids behave," Olivia shouted from the doorway.
She heard back agreement.
"Love you too," Elliot said automatically.
Olivia raised her eyebrow, then closed the door and left the apartment with her boyfriend and his kids behind.
She let out a breath, she didn't know she had been holding once she was safely in the hallway, she rubber her thigh, which Elliot had been gripping, soothed it and chose to ignore the throbbing. She ran down the stairs, got to her squad car and drove to the precinct.
Cragen and Casey were waiting for her by her desk, Casey had occupied her chair and Cragen stood by her side with his hands in his pockets.
"Finally," Casey said, when she noticed Olivia.
"I'm here," Olivia said breathlessly, she got to her desk, placed her keys on the table and took her report.
Casey pointed at the end, where indeed was no signature, so Olivia took the pen Casey held out for her, looked for the right spot and wrote her name on the line.
"Happy now?" Olivia asked.
"Very," Casey said.
"Hope we didn't interrupt anything," Cragen said.
"Just poker game with the Stablers," Olivia said. "I was feeling a little left out anyway."
Cragen laughed.
"How's that going?" Casey asked. "The Stablers and everything," she elaborated.
Olivia shrugged her shoulders. "Could be better, but you know it's an adjustment for the kids, seeing their father with a new woman and realizing their parents might not get back together," Olivia said easily.
"Let me know if you need any help, I might be able to rescue you," Casey winked.
"You just did that, may I add," Cragen pointed out.
"Right," Casey said and considered herself for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders and brushed it off.
Olivia and Cragen laughed.
"I suppose Dickie is causing the most trouble," Cragen stated.
Olivia nodded.
"He'll come around," Casey said confidently.
"Yeah, someday. He seemed to be okay with it, but I guess he is still boiling inside," Olivia said.
"He'll learn to love you just like we all do," Casey said with a smile.
"Let's hope so," Olivia said.
Cragen moved from his spot and handed Olivia the car keys she had dropped on the table. "Go, get back to your poker game, Casey got what she needed and now we can all leave this place," he said.
Olivia took the keys and breathed out heavily.
"I hope I won't have to call you again," Cragen said seriously.
"I hope so too," Olivia said.
"Enjoy your night," Cragen said and stepped away.
"Maybe if Elliot plays well you can reward him," Casey said with a smirk.
"I didn't need to hear that," Cragen said from the distance and rushed to his office. Both women laughed.
"Let's get out of here," Olivia said.
Before either of them could get out of the office, Cragen knocked on his office window and appeared on the door.
"Olivia, hang on a moment," he said.
"Here goes your poker night," Casey said and left the precinct, while Olivia went to Cragen's office and took a seat by the table, she waited while Cragen was on the phone. He wrote down some details and Olivia knew they had a case and she'd get the address Cragen had written down in a matter of time. At last, Cragen ended the call, but before he could say anything, Olivia guessed what it was about.
"We have a case," Olivia stated.
Cragen nodded. "A body was found in an empty house with possible sexual injuries. They requested SVU," Cragen said and handed her a note he had been writing.
Olivia read the details, looked up the address and stood from the chair.
"Go, I'll call Elliot," Cragen said.
Olivia nodded.
"Tell him I'll come pick him up," she said from the doorway, when Cragen picked up his phone to call Elliot. Olivia rushed away from the office and away from the building into her squad car.
When she reached his apartment building, Elliot was already waiting outside.
He got inside the car and shivered.
"It's cold outside," he stated.
"I'm sorry about your night," Olivia said with empathy.
Elliot shrugged his shoulders. "I guess my kids are used to me working all the time. They understood," he said.
"It's not supposed to be like this," Olivia said.
"No," Elliot agreed. "And in a perfect world it wouldn't be like this. But it's not a perfect world and none of us is perfect."
Olivia abruptly pulled over and stopped the car.
"What?" Elliot asked.
"What about this kid?" Olivia asked and pointed towards her abdomen.
"What about him or her?" Elliot asked.
Olivia sighed and placed her hand on her still flat abdomen. "I'm gonna have to quit, because who is gonna stay with him or her, when there is a case. We are both in the line of fire, something could happen. Neither of us has extensive family to help out, I doubt your kids would want to babysit their half-sibling. We haven't thought this through at all," she said in sudden panic.
Elliot took her hand in his and ran circles with his thumb. "We will make this work. I doubt Kathleen or Maureen have anything against watching their sibling, and we could get a babysitter. We have time, we will figure it out. For now you just have to take care of yourself and our growing kid."
"Taking care by working cases at odd hours?" Olivia asked.
"I can call Fin or Munch," Elliot offered.
Olivia shook her head.
"One day at time, honey," Elliot said with a small smile.
Olivia started driving again, Elliot kept her hand in his. "For what it's worth Dickie told me to keep you safe," Elliot offered, he honestly thought his son meant it.
"Thanks," Olivia said gratefully.
They stayed silent until they reached the crime scene. The area was already surrounded by police tapes, and unformed officers were keeping people at distance.
"You okay?" Elliot asked.
Olivia nodded. She leaned up and pressed her lips against his. "Let's go," she said and let go of his hand.
The detectives got out of the car, Elliot took his golden badge and hung it around his neck. He held it out to officer behind the yellow line and entered the area with Olivia. They got directions to the body, where Warner was waiting for them.
Their victim was a teenager boy with several injuries, at first glance it looked like S&M or rough sex gone wrong, he was beaten with light bulbs, barbed wire and from the looks of it, pieces of furniture. Their first idea was dismissed soon, when they got their first lead in Darren Tolson, a registered sex offender, who despite his criminal past, seemed to have some alibi.
Olivia and Elliot questioned him at his workplace late at night.
"We'll talk to Sonia Briglund in the morning, I doubt she'd be too happy with us showing up around midnight," Elliot suggested.
"That seems like a good idea, I'm tired," Olivia said.
Elliot wrapped his hand around her shoulder and kissed the side of her head. "I'll get you in bed in no time," he promised.
True to his word, he took the driving seat in their car and headed towards his apartment, which was much closer than hers.
"Do you think your kids are still there?" Olivia asked.
"If they are, Kathy is gonna kill me. It's school night," Elliot replied.
"So no?" Olivia clarified.
"Maureen promised to drive them home at decent hour," Elliot said.
Olivia yawned and covered her mouth with her hand, while Elliot kept on glancing her and the road. He parked in front of his apartment building, turned off the ignition, then both tired detectives got out and entered the hallway.
Olivia looked for Elliot's hand, upon finding it, intertwined their fingers, and leaned onto him.
They reached the door, Elliot unlocked it with ease, turned on the lights and locked it again after they were inside. To their great surprise the apartment wasn't empty – Kathleen was sitting on couch, watching TV.
"Kathleen?" Elliot asked.
"Dad," Kathleen replied without taking her eyes off the screen.
Elliot dropped his coat on the rack and entered the livingroom.
"Why aren't you at home?" Elliot asked, he sat down on the couch beside Kathleen.
"I'm going on a tour to Hudson University tomorrow and it's easier to go from Manhattan than from Queens. I cleared it with mom, but forgot to tell you. I didn't think it was a problem," Kathleen explained.
"It's all right. You're always welcome to stay here," Elliot said.
Olivia entered the living room area as well, but didn't stop there, she went to the bedroom, where she dropped her gun and badge, then returned.
"What are we watching?" Elliot asked.
Before Kathleen could answer a familiar face appeared on the screen. "Oh, no, not that guy again," Elliot exclaimed.
Kathleen looked at her father with surprise. "You watch Grey's Anatomy and you don't like McDreamy?" she asked with wide eyes.
"Liv watches it," Elliot grunted.
"Sometimes," Olivia pitched in.
"And McDreamy?" Kathleen asked.
Olivia chuckled. "Your father is jealous of his hair," she said.
Kathleen smiled.
Elliot started to protest, but it died when Olivia stood behind him and ran her hand over his short hair.
"I'd like to think I'm not that kind off bastard as that guy is," Elliot said.
"You're not," Olivia whispered.
Olivia entered the kitchen area, ate a yoghurt from the fridge and appeared back at the living room, where Stablers were watching TV. She focused on the screen, but it was a familiar episode, so she decided to go to sleep.
"I'm gonna call it a night, you two behave and don't stay up too late," Olivia said.
"Good night, Olivia," Kathleen said.
"Night, honey, I'll be right in," Elliot replied.
Olivia smiled to herself and left the living room.
"She looks different," Kathleen said to Elliot.
"Different how?" Elliot asked.
"Just different, has something changed?" Kathleen asked.
Elliot shook his head. He knew Olivia was already glowing – she was pregnant, but he kept his word to Olivia and didn't say anything about it to Kathleen.
"We're good, nothing new. If there was any news, we'd tell you," Elliot assured.
"I know, dad," Kathleen said.
Elliot watched the main characters argue once more on the screen. "Now young lady, it's time for bed. We both need to get up early in the morning," Elliot said.
He collected the extra sheets, blanket and pillow from a box in the corner of the room and handed them to Kathleen.
"Dad, can I ask something?" Kathleen asked.
Elliot nodded. "Of course."
"Why aren't you and Olivia living together? Should I be worried about you?" she asked.
"We'll get there, soon. There's nothing to worry about, we're already spending our days together and most of the nights as well. Us not living together is not a problem, but I'm sure we will be doing that in near future," Elliot said. Truth was, he didn't want to push Olivia and even though they were doing good, there were still some cracks.
"Well, I like her more than mom's new boyfriend, so please don't make us have to get used to some 20-year-old bimbo," Kathleen requested.
"Language, Kathleen," Elliot reprimanded. "But don't worry, I'm not gonna let Liv go."
He helped Kathleen make a bed on the couch, kissed her cheek good night and then entered the bedroom. Olivia was curled up on her side, sound asleep. Elliot remembered how tired Kathy was every time she was pregnant, he smiled at the thought of having a baby with Olivia, he knew her well enough to know a baby was something she had wanted for a long time and he was smiling like a goof every time he thought that he is able to finally give it to her.
He used the bathroom, brushed his teeth, stripped down to boxers and climbed into the bed beside her. Elliot scooted out of his side until he reached Olivia, wrapped his arm around her closed his eyes with her familiar scent filling his nostrils.
The morning came with the scent of freshly brewed coffee and crispy toast. Both Olivia and Elliot woke at their alarm, and got groggily to the kitchen, where Kathleen was making breakfast.
"Good morning, honey," Elliot greeted.
"Dad, Olivia, you're awake," Kathleed with surprise.
"Morning," Olivia said.
"What's all this?" Elliot asked and entered the kitchen area.
Kathleen poured two mugs of coffee and placed some toast with butter on plates. "I wanted to make you breakfast since you let me crash here," Kathleen explained.
"You didn't have to, but we'll accept it," Elliot said.
"Thank you," Olivia said and took a seat at the table. Elliot sat down beside her. Olivia glanced at her fresh and good smelling coffee in front of her and made eyes at Elliot – she had decided to cut coffee, but she didn't want to insult Kathleen or make her suspicious.
Elliot stood and put the kettle on. "Kathleen, the coffee smells great, but me and Olivia decided to be more healthier and so we decided cut down out coffee consumption," Elliot lied.
"Oh?" Kathleen said with surprise. "I don't know," she said apologetically.
"Don't worry about it, I'll just make some tea," Elliot said. He kissed Kathleen's temple, who stood by his side and was making another batch of toast.
Elliot made the tea, while Olivia ate with hunger. "This is delicious," she said with mouth half full of toast.
Kathleen accepted the compliment, but continued buttering the toast and putting more into the toaster. Elliot finished with tea, handed on to Olivia and took the other to himself. Elliot, who drank the rarely, made a face at the taste, but luckily only Olivia saw it, who smiled and then mouthed: "Thank you."
"Kathleen, come sit, eat with us," Olivia said.
"In a second," Kathleen replied and started buttering the last of toast.
Elliot smiled and Olivia, he loved spending time with Olivia and his kids, the joy of his life.
"This toast is great," Elliot agreed. "Do you think we should hire her?" he asked.
"It would certainly come handy," Olivia agreed.
Kathleen sat down at the end of table. "You know, I'm right here?" Kathleen said, she grabbed one of abandoned coffee cups and drank it.
"Yeah, we do. We're just thinking about having you over more often," Elliot said.
"You're always welcomed to stay with us," Olivia added.
"I know," Kathleen said.
Kathleen talked about her aspirations in college and her current state at high school, while Elliot and Olivia mainly listened to her, occasionally asked questions, but mostly enjoyed their breakfast.
The morning at station went quickly. Rather unusual was that their victim was identified twice in one day with latter being the correct ID. Their victim died while doing extreme fighting and victims best friend was the one who killed him.
It seemed pretty open and shut until about a month later, when it got to court and Riley's girlfriend showed up. That made things interesting. It wasn't until Casey went to see her after trial had ended, before Scott was sentenced.
Detective's usual take-out was delivered to Elliot's desk. Olivia was the first there to grab her order, took a seat at her desk and ate with appetite. Elliot chuckled and grabbed his own order. Other detectives got around to take theirs.
"Oh, I was so hungry," Olivia said, while eating her food.
"You should have said something," Elliot noted. He learned to keep some healthy snacks in his drawer, specially after Olivia got pregnant.
Elliot complained about his desk becoming the food distribution center, when even more upset Casey entered the squadroom.
"We got a bigger mess than that, Scott Heston just got away with murder," she said while walking over to Olivia and Elliot. She stood beside Olivia, dropped her bag beside Olivia's chair, and crossed her hands.
"I heard you got him on the E felony," Olivia said.
"Yeah, which could get him four years or as little as probation," Casey explained. "Now I find out that he was obsessed with Riley's girlfriend and just learned his quick and effective killing technique in a science class," she elaborated.
"Motive, opportunity, and intent," Olivia agreed.
"And double jeopardy. I can't retry him," Casey said heavily.
"You can still make sure he gets the max," Elliot said.
They ended with realization that they needed Riley's girlfriend Cassandra on the stand and confession.
"That reminds me, I should get something to eat," Casey said overlooking at the detectives at lunch.
Olivia smirked. "Luckily we got it delivered, I think the nearest take-out places love us," she said.
Elliot overlooked his desk, there still was a couple of packages of food. "I think Smith is in court and probably won't get back until later. I don't think he'll want his cold pasta," Elliot said.
"Oh, I could kiss you," Casey said and grabbed the food Elliot was offering, the realized what she had just said. "I won't kiss him of course, that's your job," she added to Olivia.
"There goes my dream," Elliot said to himself.
Casey chuckled, but Olivia gave him a look. "Of you kissing me of course, dear," Elliot said to Olivia with a smile.
Both Olivia and Casey laughed. Casey sat down on a chair beside Olivia, where usually victims, their relatives and occasionally witnesses sat while they shared their story with the detectives.
Casey lowered her voice and leaned towards Olivia. "How's it going?" she asked.
"I feel great. I have my 8 weeks appointment next week," she said.
"Casey knows?" Elliot whispered across the tables.
Casey gave him a look. "Of course, Casey knows," she said back.
"Does that mean I can tell my kids?" Elliot asked hopefully.
Olivia gave him a look, considered her options, and leaned back on her chair. "We talked about it," she said.
"Yeah, but you said Casey," Elliot argued.
Olivia looked around, but nobody seemed to pay any attention to them.
"Liv didn't tell me," Casey said with a smirk.
Elliot waited for anyone to explain, but the women stayed quiet. "She figured it out, I wasn't gonna lie," Olivia said.
Casey looked proud of herself, Elliot shook his head and focused on the screen, while the women talked quietly over the lunch, he did his best to focus on the work, because he was certain otherwise he'd hear things he didn't want to know.
Soon after lunch Olivia and Elliot talked to Scott, who denied killing in purpose and feeling bad for himself. After that Olivia went to see Cassandra, who finally agreed to talk at sentencing hearing.
Late that night they were in the squadroom, after everybody else had left and night shift detectives were out on a call. Olivia her computer, yawned and walked over to Elliot. She leaned against his table, and asked for attention.
"Yes, dear?" Elliot asked, he smiled.
"How about going home?" Olivia asked.
She had been yawning half of the day, but she just said it was because of her caffeine deficit. Somehow Elliot didn't entirely believe her – he knew that pregnancy is tiring.
"Sure, I just need to finish my report," Elliot said.
Olivia tilted her head, used her leg to move Elliot's chair from the table and took a seat on his lap, instantly his hands were around her. She kissed him. Elliot looked around the room, but no living souls were around, so he kissed her back and led the kiss into something much more, when his tongue explored her mouth. Olivia had her arms around his neck.
"You're lucky I like you so much, I don't let just any detective have the most comfortable seat in the building," Elliot said.
"Is that so?" Olivia asked.
Elliot smirked. He moved his hand to rest it on Olivia's flat abdomen, she brought her hand over his.
"But I'd also do anything for the two of you," he added. "And I will do everything for you both."
"I know," Olivia said barely above whisper.
Elliot kissed Olivia's cheek. "You wanted to go home?" he asked.
"I wanna do something in here instead," she said mischievously.
Elliot raised his eyebrows, but Olivia kept on smirking at him. She stood up, to which Elliot protested a little, but followed suit. She took his hand and led him to interrogation room.
"You wanna interrogate me?" Elliot asked with confusion.
Olivia chuckled. "Something like that."
She walked by the table, ran her hand over the surface and stopped at the edge, there Elliot came to stand in front of her.
"What do you want to do now?" Elliot asked.
Olivia leaned upwards and pressed her lips against his. She didn't take it slow nor did she hid her intentions from him. Her fingers moved underneath his shirt, she caressed his warm skin. Elliot pulled her hair out of the band and let them fall freely on her back.
"You brought me here to seduce me," Elliot said, when their lips parted.
"I think I already seduced you," she whispered against his ear and nibbled his earlobe.
Elliot laughed and agreed. He lifted her up and placed her on the desk, then unbuttoned her vest and shirt underneath it.
"You know I've always wanted to do it in the interrogation room," Elliot said mischievously.
"Of course, I've known," Olivia replied. "I've seen your eyes on me, while I interrogate suspects, the darkening of your eyes, when I play game with them or try to seduce the perps. I've seen it all and I have to say, I always expected you to drag me in here way before today."
"Liv, the way you move, pose and the sweet talk. How could anyone ever refuse it?" Elliot said. He had busied himself with removing her shirt completely, which she helped him do.
"So, how about you throw me on the desk and interrogate me, detective," Olivia said suggestively.
Elliot pressed his lips against hers, let her push his shirt up and fumbled with her belt. He pushed her, so she jumped down from the table and Elliot could undo her belt, button and zipper, and pushed her pants down with her panties.
"Seems like you're overdressed," she commented.
Elliot ignored her, he picked her up and placed her on table roughly. Olivia moved to his workpants and pushed his pants and boxers down. Elliot's erected penis appeared in front of her, it hung deliciously and Olivia was more than ready to have him inside her.
He had been using his fingers to warm her up, to get her ready, and he could feel her readiness matching his. His free hand was on her back, he undid her bra clasp and pressed his lips against hers, while distracting her any way he could imagine.
"Ready to get some interrogation, Benson?" he asked with a smirk, when he felt her hands closing around his throbbing penis.
"More than ready, detective," she replied.
Elliot kissed her cheek, ran his fingers over her neck, down to her breasts and took left one his hand, but Olivia was quick to guide his hand downward.
Olivia gasped and Elliot grunted, when their bodies connected.
"At least I won't have to worry about knocking you up," Elliot joked.
"Or I don't need to worry about getting knocked up," Olivia added.
Elliot kissed her temple sweetly, closed his eyes. "No, we don't need to worry about that anymore," he said and kissed her again.
Olivia raised her eyebrows, closed her eyes and leaned into him.
"El, while I love you being happy about my pregnancy, is it the right time?" Olivia asked.
Elliot smiled. "Right, now making love to you, tender loving boyfriend time later," Elliot confirmed.
Olivia wrapped her legs around him, and pressed her heels against his lower back, forcing him even deeper inside her. She gasped.
"No, I just want you to just fuck me before anyone finds us here," she demanded.
"Yes, detective," he said.
Elliot helped her by taking hold of her legs, pulling them upwards.
He used one hand to hold her steady by dragging it around her, and Olivia wrapped her hands around his neck, when he started thrusting. He was slow and careful at first, but picked up the pace as he went on.
Elliot tried massaging her boobs once more, but Olivia was quick to take his hand in hers and guide it away. He settled on having it between them, rubbing her to give Olivia more pleasure and himself a reason to touch one of his favorite spots on her body.
Olivia moved along with him, getting into their familiar rhythm. Elliot's fingers worked their magic on her, and it wasn't long until her hands were on his thighs, signaling him to hold it for a moment. She threw her head backwards and a heavy breath with silenced moan escaped her throat.
"Oh, Stabler," she moaned.
Elliot panted against her exposed neck and kissed her tender skin there lazily. His palm on her back steadied Olivia and held her against him.
"I've got you," he whispered.
He rocked against her, momentarily lifted her from the table, and put her back with force and leaned on top of her, then started thrusting again.
"So tell me, do you love me?" Elliot asked.
"What?" she asked and moaned.
"How much do you want me?" he asked.
"Right now, a lot," she said heavily.
Elliot leaned close, Olivia caught his lips and kissed him hard.
"With me?" he asked through kiss.
"Right behind, let go," she managed.
She felt Elliot thrusting into her hard and then stopped. He was smiling in utter satisfaction, his arms around her and fingers holding her hair. He spit his semen inside her and to him, it was always just like the first time he did it after years of longing, wanting and dreaming.
"Liv?" he asked coming down.
She made a sound, so Elliot reached down again and used his fingers to stoke her in rapid, yet light movements. Olivia arched her back, pulled him tight against her and completely trusted herself into him for the vulnerable, yet pleasurable moment.
They stayed like that for a moment, until they both came down from the high, fingers moving on naked skin, lips touching the other in lazy movements.
"This is without questions the best interrogation I've ever had," he concluded.
Olivia agreed non-verbally.
"I think we should get dressed," she said.
Elliot reluctantly pulled out and stood up by the table. He held his hand out and helped Olivia into standing position.
"How come you're the only one with some clothes still on?" Olivia asked and referred to his shirt, which had been pushed upwards, but fell down, when Elliot stood up. They found their underwear and pants at their feet, pulled them up. Elliot was the ever gentleman and brought Olivia her bra, shirt and vest, all abandoned under the table.
As Olivia put on her bra, Elliot gently kissed both of her boobs. "What's with the girls?" he asked. Olivia ignored him and pulled on her green shirt. Elliot helped her button it.
"They're just sore, but from what I read it's normal," Olivia answered casually.
Elliot smiled. "Mother nature's way of teasing men," Elliot mused to himself.
"What?" Olivia asked.
Elliot smiled, helped her vest on, kissed her forehead and pulled her against him in a hug. "And this is perfect," he whispered against her hair.
The interrogation room opened roughly, and Smith entered with a brown haired tall man in handcuffs. Olivia and Elliot broke apart quickly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't know it was occupied," Smith apologized quickly and turned to leave.
"No, it's available," Olivia said quickly.
Smith sent them quizzical looks – after all he was a detective as well.
"We were just making sure everything is in order, we have an important interrogation tomorrow, but we'll be out of your hair," Elliot saved.
Smith nodded and smiled at Olivia and Elliot, who rushed out of the room. On their way they met a few of their colleagues, then moved to the crib.
"That was close," Olivia said, when the door was closed.
"Yeah, but it was so worth it," Elliot replied. "What brought this on anyway?" he asked.
Olivia shrugged her shoulders. "I just had to have you right at that moment," she said heavily. Elliot took a step forward and closed the distance between them, his swollen lips met hers in a tired, satisfied kiss.
"You can have me anytime you want, anywhere you want," he whispered against her ear after having ended the kiss.
"I guess it's just hormones," she looked for explanation.
"Probably hormones are helping, but if this is what it's gonna be like, then it'll be tough," she said.
"We should have a codeword," Elliot suggested.
"For what?"
"For whenever you feel the need to jump me, you say a codeword and we'll find a place, where you can do it," Elliot said.
Olivia laughed. She leaned upwards, kissed his cheek and took his hand. She led him to a nearest bed and sat on it. Elliot followed.
"Maybe I just wanted you right there, I haven't been in the mood lately," she tried to explain.
"It's the pregnancy. You're gonna feel a bit differently from now on, but it's a good thing. And I will get on board with every mood swing, hormones change and everything that comes with it. I will be here and I will love it every step on the way," he said.
Subconsciously his palm ended up on her abdomen, where Olivia covered his hand with hers. "I know," she said simply.
"It's late, do you want to go home or crash here?" Elliot asked.
Olivia yawned, she looked around the crib, which was empty.
"You remember all the times we've slept here?" he asked.
Olivia chuckled. "Together or separately?"
"Either."
She smiled and pushed Elliot down on the bed. "I remember them all," she said.
"And you want to make a new one?" he asked.
"I'm way to tired to go home," she said.
Elliot grabbed the blanket over the pillow, held his arm around Olivia and covered them with blanket with some help from Olivia. Elliot was on his back and Olivia curled at his side.
"These beds are so uncomfortable," Elliot complained.
"You're just not tired enough, because I feel quite comfortable," Olivia replied. She shifted for good measure, kissed Elliot's jaw and placed her head on his shoulders.
"You have someone to use as pillow or comfort, but I get to feel the shape of this bed," he explained.
"Lucky me," she whispered.
"Yeah, lucky you. Lucky me," he replied.
The silence took over, but didn't last long before Olivia spoke up.
"El?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"The thing you said before about nature's way of teasing you," Olivia said. "What did you mean by it?"
Elliot moved his hand and cupped her breast very gently. Even so, Olivia winced a bit.
"Your boobs, they're more beautiful, fuller and bigger, yet I can't enjoy them," he said.
"They're not here for your entertainment," Olivia reminded him.
"Even so. I think it's some evolutionary thing, men and boobs," Elliot figured.
"Evolutionary or not, they are not there to attract probable mating buddies – they're there to feed one's offspring," Olivia explained.
"I know," Elliot said.
Olivia took his hand in hers and guided it down to her side. "And mine are off limits until I say otherwise," she was firm.
Elliot pressed his lips to the top of her head and tightened his hold around her. "Of course, whatever you say, dear," he whispered.
Olivia smiled to herself, silently wondering how she'd managed to find a guy, who actually is sensible and that after working in sex crimes for about a decade and seeing all the crimes and perps she'd run from if she'd be like any other person.
"You know, I'll never do anything that'll hurt you," he said.
Olivia made some noise in reply, then threw her leg over Elliot and closed her eyes to catch some sleep. Sleep clouded their minds and it didn't take long for Olivia and Elliot fall asleep despite the apparent discomfort of the bed.
The morning came too soon, but Olivia and Elliot were awake at time, Olivia took quick shower, while Elliot got them breakfast, they both changed and were ready at their desks, when night shift ended and daily one started.
Olivia and Elliot spent the morning in court hearing with Casey, while their suspect got only probation. It was probably because their witness Cassandra didn't show up. Came out their suspect Scott paid one of his friends to drive into her. Elliot and Fin got confession right after they brought the guy in. Meanwhile Olivia spent the afternoon in the hospital with Cassandra. It was then, when their case took another turn – Cassandra was not who she said she was, but most importantly she was not 16.
Of course, they didn't get lucky at ACS, but they realized that Cassandra had been using another name, but Olivia and Elliot got her DNA from straw and therefore realized that Cassandra Sullivan was Denise Pickering and 28. That caused another wave of problem, because they had a grown women going to high school with teenagers, that had been going on for 12 years.
Things settled down until two weeks later Scott's trial was back on, this time for attempted murder of Cassandra aka Denise.
By that time there was a new sticky note on Olivia's and Elliot's desk. It simply stated 15th November 2007 – Olivia's due date. Her eight-week appointment went well, they got to hear baby's heartbeat for the first time and got their due date. Olivia also got date for genetic screening – they had debated about it with Elliot, who because of his religion hadn't got that on any of his kids yet, but Olivia's age put her pregnancy is riskier group and therefore Olivia wanted all tests possible, while Elliot was doubtful at first, but he agreed to learn as much as possible.
They sat in the squadroom, waiting for lunch break and court that started after. The case against Cassandra brought back memories of high school and that became the topic of lunch.
"I really hated 10th grade," Elliot stated.
"Well, I didn't exactly hate it, but I wouldn't want to go back," Olivia replied.
"Whole high school was nightmarish enough to forget it quickly," Elliot continued.
"I'd rather repeat college," Olivia decided.
Elliot raised his eyebrow. He got up and leaned against Olivia's desk. "Really?" he asked.
Olivia nodded and smiled.
"I and I wish I'd met you in college. Knowing about the wild and young Benson, whom I've occasionally heard about," he said.
"Yeah, maybe good boy like you could've tamed me," she replied.
"I wasn't such good guy back then. I'd returned from Marines and I was high on that. Girls loved that," Elliot explained.
"There's something about the uniform, not marines per se, it's the uniform, that makes you hot," Olivia clarified.
Elliot leaned over Olivia, kissed her temple and kept his lips near her ear.
"So, you agreed to sleep with me because of my uniform?" he asked.
"Yes," Olivia said confidently.
Fin and Casey chose to appear at that moment. Fin noticed piles of food on his desk. "So now my desk is food distribution center?" he asked.
Elliot shrugged.
"You got something for me?" Casey asked.
"Ordered you a salad," Olivia said.
Casey winked at Olivia, took a salad from Fin's desk, walked around and on Elliot's chair. Elliot protested at that. "What?" Casey asked. "You weren't using it anyway," she pointed out.
Casey handed Elliot his food and Elliot slouched down on a chair beside Olivia, where usually victims and witnesses sat.
Fin followed others, took his food, grabbed a chair and sat down beside Elliot's desk.
"Whatcha talking about?" Fin asked.
"High school," Olivia replied.
"Oh, I loved high school," Casey said.
Olivia, Elliot and Fin chuckled. "I did, these were great years," she explained herself.
"Let me guess: you were the prom queen, valedictorian, class president…" Fin counted.
Casey smiled wickedly and with that confirmed it all.
"I hated high school, the first thing I did after graduating was burn my notebooks and PE unifororm," Fin said.
"Let me guess, you were the princess?" Elliot asked.
"Probably," Casey replied.
"I was most certainly the basket case, no questions there," Olivia said.
Elliot and Fin looked at each other.
"I played basketball in high school, that would make me the jock," Elliot said.
Olivia looked over at Elliot. "You're lucky we didn't meet back then, there's no way I would've looked at you twice," Olivia said.
"Ouch," Elliot replied.
"That must hurt," Fin added.
"Oh, don't take it the wrong way, but some jock wouldn't piss of my mother like some guy in leather, who owns a car and smokes everything he can get in his hands," Olivia explained.
"I would've kept away from you in that case," Casey said with surprise.
"Wild Benson, wild Liv," Fin said.
"Fin, who you were?" Casey asked.
"Nobody. I was barely at school. Almost nobody knew me and I knew almost nobody," Fin said.
"Brain?" Elliot asked.
"I thought Munch was that," Casey said.
"Criminal than?" Olivia asked.
"Well, I did have some troubles with the cops, when I was in High school," Fin said.
"How'd you become one?" Casey asked. "I though they wouldn't take anyone with record to the academy?"
"I helped them on some cases, in exchange, they erased my file," Fin said.
"You see, basket case and jock ended up together in movie and in real life," Elliot said and raised an eyebrow. He looked at Casey and then Fin.
"Is this some subtle sign that I should ask Casey out?" Fin asked.
"I don't think it's subtle at all," Olivia replied.
Fin and Casey gave each other awkward glances, then looked at Olivia and Elliot, who looked very proud of themselves.
"No," Fin and Casey said at the same time.
"Look, already in unison," Elliot said.
Casey rolled her eyes and threw away now empty food container.
"We already have you two to make others wanna vomit at times, I think that's enough," Fin said.
"I wanna vomit," Olivia said suddenly.
"Now?" Elliot asked.
Olivia nodded, pushed her chair back and sprinted towards the bathroom.
Everybody looked around each other, at the end others settled on glancing at Elliot, who pushed Olivia's half-eaten lunch box to trash bin, threw his empty box away as well and emptied Olivia's desk of all food.
"Are you gonna say something?" Fin asked.
"About what?" Elliot didn't get.
Fin pointed at Olivia's now empty chair and towards direction which Olivia had run off to. Elliot looked helpless and Casey didn't seem to wanna help either. He couldn't break his promise to Olivia about not telling anyone yet.
"Stomach flu," he said finally.
"Oh," Fin replied.
"Yeah, we had some bad Chinese last night," he elaborated his lie.
"How come you're not sick?" Fin asked.
Elliot cursed himself in his mind – he was lying to detective. "After all the crap they fed me in marines, I don't think my organism will fight against something," he said.
Fin seemed satisfied with that.
"I'm gonna go see how she's doing," Elliot said, got up and disappeared the same way Olivia had.
"I don't think she's doing very well," Fin noted after Elliot had left.
He passed the men's room, and carefully peaked through the door of women's room. He couldn't see anyone, but he heard someone puking out their insides. He closed the distance and got to the cabin, where the noises were coming from.
"Liv?" he asked quietly.
"Go away Elliot," she demanded.
"No," he said firmly.
Elliot pushed the cabin door and to his great surprise, it opened. Olivia was there on her knees, her hands against the toilet seat and her forehead leaned at her hand. She had just flushed and her breathing was heavy, but uneven.
"Elliot, get the hell out," Olivia said with anger.
Elliot chose to ignore her once again. The cabin door closed behind him, leaving them in the tiny cabin. Elliot squatted by her side, he moved her hair to her back and held them together, his palm was on her back.
Olivia lifted her head roughly, hovered over the toilet and got sick again.
"You're okay," Elliot whispered and ran circles on her back.
She finished and slouched back. "I'm not okay," she said firmly. "I've been vomiting daily for weeks now. It's nasty and uncomfortable and I feel like shit," Olivia said and flushed.
"It'll pass," Elliot tried.
"Stop it, El," Olivia said firmly.
Elliot gave up. He leaned against the wall and pulled Olivia against him. She didn't protest against him, but didn't lean against him fully.
"I'm gross," Olivia said.
Elliot kissed her temple. "You're beautiful," he said.
Olivia closed her eyes and spat into the bowl.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
"Not really."
"Do you think you're done?" he asked.
Olivia nodded weakly against his chest. They helped each other and rose from the dirty bathroom floor. Elliot had his hand on her back, together they got to sink. Olivia threw water at her face, while Elliot poured some into plastic cup. He gave it to Olivia, who took it thankfully, rinsed and gulped it.
The door opened: a young uniformed female officer walked in. She screamed at the sight of Elliot, who was pouring more water into the cup. Olivia was still shaking slightly.
"This is the lady's room," the officer announced.
"I'm well aware of it," Elliot grunted.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
Elliot handed Olivia water, looked over her and back at officer Simons, as he read from the uniform. "I'm here for my partner," he said confidently.
"But not in the lady's room," Simons said.
"I'm okay, El," Olivia said.
Elliot looked her up and down, then decided to believe her and left. He made sure to give the young officer his death glare.
He leaned against the wall beside the WC's door. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Casey, Fin and Munch discussing something at his desk. He didn't have time to focus on the squad room, because Olivia appeared.
"You okay?" he asked.
"You have gum?" she asked.
Elliot nodded and looked for the object in his pockets. Upon finding it, he gave it to Olivia.
"Much better," she said, when the taste of peppermint filled her mouth.
"Ready to face the detective squad?" Elliot asked.
Olivia nodded.
"I told them we had bad Chinese last night, so it's just stomach flu," Elliot said quickly.
"Got it," she replied.
Elliot placed his hand on her lower back and guided her back to her desk.
"Did we miss a meeting memo?" Olivia asked.
She sat down behind her desk, and instantly Fin and Munch pushed their chairs back.
"I'm not contagious," she said and rolled her eyes.
Munch got into the Breakfast club topic, that was previously discussed, everybody else joined.
It was after lunchtime, that Cragen returned. At that time, nobody was working, they sat around Elliot's desk and discussed vividly High school.
"Is anybody actually working here?" Cragen asked loudly.
At that all flinched, mumbled their apologies about losing track of time, then got around their desks.
"He is definitely the principle," Casey said and left the squad room.
Everybody got back to work and Cragen smiled to himself at his office.
"I'd have detective Benson over high school Benson every day," Elliot said to Olivia over their desks.
"Right back at you," she replied.
Elliot smiled over their desks.
***SVU***
It was after Cassandra Sullivan's case, when Olivia had spent afternoon at court with Fin, Munch was out sick again and Elliot was doing paperwork behind his desk. A dim light came from Cragen's office, the door was open and the old Captain sat behind his desk with only desk lamp to give him light.
A woman with long blonde hair and petite figure stood at the SVU doorway. She was looking over the room, looking for certain people – or more making sure one certain person was not there. She stood there long enough for herself to feel weird, a couple of officers to look at her with questions, but then again some victims stood at the door for much longer. Finally Kathy had made sure that Olivia Benson was not in office and wouldn't be returning anytime soon either.
She made her move.
"Elliot," she said quietly, when she approached her ex-husband.
Elliot turned away from his screen and the casefile in front of him. "Kathy," he replied.
He minimized everything on his screen, closed the case file in front of him and waited for Kathy to speak. She came to stand beside him, but chose against sitting at the chair by his desk.
"It's quiet here," she said.
Elliot shrugged his shoulders. "For a change," he added.
"We need to talk, Elliot," she said firmly.
Elliot looked around, but the squad room was quiet. Only Cragen was in his office, but he was out of hearing range, besides he doubted Cragen had time to listen in on some random conversations. He looked at the time. It was a little past 6 pm.
"Something happened with the kids?" he asked.
Kathy shook her head. She stood there with discomfort written all over her.
"We need to talk about us," she stated.
Elliot stayed quiet – in his opinion he had nothing to talk about with Kathy, unless it was about their kids. Them as a married couple stopped existing years prior.
"What about us?" he finally asked.
Kathy let out a deep breath. She sat down on the vacant chair.
"Don't you think it's time to end our separation so you could come back home to me and our kids. I know you miss it just like I miss you," Kathy said.
Elliot stayed silent. He couldn't find words nor could he believe what Kathy was saying.
"I know it might seem sudden, but it's not. I know you've had your problems with you partner. The rebound phase is over now, I believe we're ready to give it another shot. Elliot, I've always loved you. Now, I need you to come home for me, for our kids, for yourself," Kathy continued.
"Kathy," Elliot started, but Kathy raised her hand.
"It's something to think about. Give me an answer, when you're ready or better yet, come home, when you're ready. I've heard your apartment is rather small and ugly, you can come back to our house in Brooklyn, where there is a warm spot on the bed beside me just for you," Kathy finished.
Elliot didn't say anything, so Kathy stood from her chair. She leaned close to Elliot and kissed his cheek, then took her handbag and left just as quietly as she had arrived. Her presence had gone unnoticed the police officers, only Elliot sat there taken back. There was no chance he was gonna get any work done after that.
He didn't notice a shadow crossing the light coming from Cragen's office, and he didn't notice Cragen at his doorway either. When Elliot recovered and looked around for any curious pair of eyes with chatty lips, he didn't find any. All he found was odd silence, peace and quiet.
Elliot turned off his computer, grabbed his personal effects and turned off his desk lamp. With that the normally busy squad room was buried into darkness, only Cragen's office dim light illuminated the desk nearest to the office.
Elliot left with his mind at tough spot. He thoughts swirled around his ex-wife and his current girlfriend, his kids with Kathy and the one on the way. He left the squad room and his conversation with Kathy behind to go to his girlfriend – the woman he loved, adored and never wanted to lose. And that woman was Olivia Benson.