Title: Stones in the Road

Series: Give a Little Bit

Author: Megan Faye

Rated: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here.

A/N: Sequal Give a Little Bit This song just reminds me of a picture of Mariska Hargitay, and inspired this story.

Don pulled the blanket tight around him. Beach or not, heavy NYPD sweashirt or not, it was cold, even by Hawii's standards.To make up for it, warm-natured Casey Cragen, who wore long sleeves and was fine, snuggled close to her new husband and pointed out another constellation. He sighed happily and listened to her ramble on about the stars and how the city was horrible. She couldn't see a single star there. After a while, she got quiet and stretched out on the blanket. Don leaned over her on his elbow and traced her jaw with his fingertip.

Being married to the young woman sat well with Don. She made him laugh like no one else ever had, and made him feel more alive than he'd felt since his first wife died. Casey was his heart and soul, and lying on the beach with her in his arms was the greatest feeling he'd ever known.

"How's my bride doing tonight?"

"Pretty good."

"Wonderful." He smiled and was quiet.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Just thinking about the last month of wedded bliss," he said softly. "I love being married to you, Case."

"Good, 'cause its going to stay that way for a while." He smiled and kissed her. "Do we have to go back tomorrow?"

"Unfortunetly, yes, we do. I have a meeting with the Commisioner on Monday, you have court, and we have to get you moved into to my house-"

"Wait, back up. I was thinking you'd move into my apartment."

"Why would I do that?"

"Its almost as big, and there's no yard to care for, its close to work and-"

"And its in the city, where stars don't exsist."

"If I moved into your place, I'd feel like I was living in Marge's home." It hadn't occured to him that she'd be undcomfortable with the idea of living in his home. "I already married her husband, sit on her couch, sleep in her bed-"

"How about this; we'll live in the city while we redecorate the house. We can use a mixture of my furnature and yours, but get a whole new bedroom set. What we don't keep, we'll sell to pay for the new bed and such. My house has a lot more room, and best of all; totally paid for." She smiled and kissed him. "Besides, I love the yard. its perfect for when we have kids," he added, hoping that would seal the deal. She thought for a few minutes.

"I own my place. Selling it'll help pay the cost of redoing the house." He bent down and kissed her head. "I'm picking the colors. You had terrible taste." Don laughed and pulled her close.

Cragen strode through the squardoom on his first day back after the honeymoon. He was happy, and for the first time in 10 years, well-rested. Munch only glanced up from his desk, and Fin walked out of the squadroom. Don silently wondered what was going on, and stepped into his office.

"Don," Liv said, sitting behind his desk. "Been waiting for you."

"What's going on?"

"I was voted in to talk to you." Olivia stood and moved out of his seat.

"That doesn't sound good."

"You won't take a swing at me."

"That really doesn't sound good."

"You're being replaced," she said gently. He sat down in his chair and looked around his office.

"They were right to send you," has said, fists balled, face turning red. "Forced retirement?"

"Don," she said gently. "You were already considering retirement-"

"NOT TODAY I WASN'T!" he yelled. Olivia knew that the line had been crossed and there would be no reasoning with him. She felt sorry for the next people who were going to cross his path.

"Whoa, you need to calm down," sha said. Few men scared her, and for the first time since she started in this squad, Don was amung them. His face was red with anger, and he was leaned over his desk towards her. "You still have your pension," she offered.

"This is bull-shit and you know it."

"I know. But it could be so much worse. They could be firing Casey as well." Don knew she was right, and he hated her for it. "Dad, its-"

"I'm not your goddamn father," he spat as he stormed from his office. The glass in the window shattered as the door slammed, leaving Olivia, stunned, in his office.

Elliot hated the brass. He hated the feel of his dress uniform, the stiff collar, and the squeaky shoes. The joy of being a Detective for him was street clothes. Granted, he would have prefered jeans and his Nikes, the slacks and dress shirt were a far cry better than his dress uniform. He figured that Olivia would be happy about the offer of a promotion, but the idea that he was being forced to replace Don really didn't sit well with him. Elliot hadn't been told until the day Don was back from his honeymoon that Brass was forcing them to do this. Don was being forced into retirement, and Elliot was offered his desk. If he didn't take it, he could always retire along with Don. Next in line for the desk was Olivia, and he didn't want her to face that descision.

"Lt. Stabler, do you understand our offer?"

"Either take my best friend's job, or turn in my badge."

"I wasn't aware that Captain Cragen was your best friend."

"We're a family in that unit. My 2-year-old daughter calls him Grandpa Don. My wife calls him Dad. Like it or not, 10 years with the same 5 people puts you pretty damn close."

"We're getting off-topic here. Have you decided or not?"

"I'll take the position. But know this; the way you are going about this is underhanded, and disrespectful; not only to Captain Cragen, but to me, my family, and the entire unit. I'm taking the promotion because I know the unit, the people there, and you don't need a rookie taking that unit."

"Your promotion ceremony will be held on Saturday at noon."

"I would rather not have a full ceremony. I think that just me, my wife and the brass. This isn't something I should be celebrating," he said curtly.

"Very well. Dismissed." Elliot turned and left the room. He hated brass. And now, to all his friends, he was brass.

"I didn't have a choice, Olivia! I had no idea they were going to pull what they did!" Elliot yelled. Olivia stood inches from him, nose to nose.

"You didn't have a choice?" she asked. "You could have told them where to stick the promotion and joined him in retirement!"

"We have 6 kids between us!"

"Two are grown, two are in boarding school on scholership, and one has a personal piggy bank to draw from for her whole life because of a basic sperm donation 3 and a half years ago!"

"I don't want her using his money."

"Where do you think the money comes from for her daycare? We can't afford $600 a week to put two kids in daycare any more than we can afford to live on one income. If you had retired, you'd have gotten a goddamn pension and stayed home with the kids, you idiot!"

"Screw you!"

"Oh, I can screw you so much worse, Stabler," she said, lifting Allie and Eli into the double stroller. The children had never seen them fight, and were too scared to respond. "Don't follow."

"Where are you going with our kids?"

"I'm taking our son and my daughter to stay with Kathy." Elliot did the only thing he could think to do. He grabbed Olivia by the arm.

"Don't. You. Dare. Question who her father is again, Olivia," he hissed, and let her go.

"Hannah Grace, I can not believe you are suspended!" John yelled throwing his jacket over the couch. "What on Earth made you think you could tell your teacher to...what did you tell her again?"

"I told her I wasn't going to do the assignment, and she can't make me."

"And then you told her she could go ahead and suck your non-exsistent nut sack." Hannah laughed

"You should have seen her face."

"This isn't funny," he said, disappointment in his voice. "Hannah, you can't talk to your teachers like that."

"She's a racest who wanted me to, and I'm making an exact quote here, "Write about the holocost from how a Jew would see it." It was horrible! The other kids were staring at me! She's been on my ass-"

"Hannah-"

"Back, since Christmas. I wasn't in the play with the rest of the kids, and she said I was a Godless child. Not to my face, under her breath in passing." John rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"So you gave her more ammunition to single you out."

"No, I told her off."

"In turn, she'll never take you seriously again, and everything that comes out of your mouth, she'll be on you about sarcasm and rudeness." Hannah sighed and fixed herself a cup of coffee.

"It started with coffee today. She took my mocha and talked to me like a child."

"News flash!! YOU ARE A CHILD!"

"John Munch look at me; I'm a 35-year-old stuck in a 10-year-old's body. I watch Star Trek, Friends, cook, and I certainly don't speak like a 10-year-old. I haven't been a child since I was 3. Perhaps I'm a little mature for my age, but its just who I am, and I think its okay that I drink coffee. There are worse things than coffee and sarcasm." She sighed and nuked the coffee that had gotten very cold since being brewed that morning. "Listen, I don't know what I'm supposed to like, and dislike. The girls in my class are weird. Half play with dolls and jump rope. The other half wear make-up, take diet pills, and try to kiss the nasty little boys in the class. Dolls are boring, and boys are immature little snot balls."

"Hannah, you haven't told me much about your life before here. I know what you said in court, but not the day to day things. You obviously took very good care of yourself and your sisters. What went on? I can't help you until I know." Hannah placed her coffee cup in the sink and sank down into the soft spot on the living room couch.

"Things were really good for a long time. My Mom would read to me, constantly. Not the baby books that Allie reads, she read to me all aobut being Jewish, and A Tale of Two Cities, and Moby Dick. I never knew there were 'baby books' until I was much too old for them. She went to the library and we had so much time togther. I started first grade when I was 4, but after a few weeks, my father made me quit because Mom was pregnant, and she needed me there. When the baby was born, my mom got sick. She just stayed in her room and dad took me out on the street to ask for money to help her. The men would touch my hair, and at first, my father would protect me, but then they gave him money to do what they wanted.

"When the second baby came, Mom died, and then they started coming to our apartment. Hope and Faith were little and my father made me take care of them.

"The men...paid my father, and I took a cut to buy food and diapers. I was responsible for them, and if they didn't eat, I wouldn't. My father would be gone a couple of weeks at a time, and I would stay with the girls. I would gather change, steal from the men's wallets when I could, and I got good at it. When the twins mom lived with us, she was high or drunk so much of the time; usually passed out or sleeping, that I took care of her, too. I let Hope and Faith watch Big bird a lot, so they could learn to read. I usually left the T.V. on when they slept. They all slept a lot."

"Why?"

"We didn't have food and so when they got hungry, I put them to bed. They got used to sleeping when they got hungry so I could sneak out the fire escape and get soup or eggs. The man at the store would always put extra formula in the bag when he thought I wasn't looking." John wished he had an internal switch to turn off the hatred and sorrow he felt for her. "Father boarded up the window a few days before you came. He caught me sneaking back in with the food and diapers. I did what I had to do to survive." Hannah turned away. She could no longer look into his sad eyes, knowing that he was sad for her.

"Hannah, I know you had it rough, but you need to be a kid. Go play!"

"Papa, dolls don't interest me, make-up doesn't interest me, and playing on the swings and slides doesn't look like a whole hell of a lot of fun."

"What do you like to do for fun? What makes you happy? What makes you laugh and smile?"

"Dancing and singing with Lizzie and Maureen. Playing the piano. Music makes me happy."

"Would you consider acting? If I found a children's theater, would that be fun?" Hannah faced him. She looked so small again. "You could go on stage and be anyone you wanted to be, and-"

"I would rather work in film." John was taken aback by her response. "Stage actors have to overact, and I'm not so hot at that. I would prefer doing television and film. All of my mistakes can be edit-"

"We'll get you head shots this weekend, and an agent." Hannah smiled. "Hannah, how do you veiw your life now?"

"Strange," she said, after a pause.

"Strange?"

"I don't have to take care of anyone, so that leaves me a lot of free time. I'm getting to go to school, which I enjoy except there are teachers with the I.Q. of a carrot on crack. Its a lot like it was with my mom. She loved me, took care of me, like you do. But its different. She was so different from you."

"How so?"

"She read to me a lot, but she never talked to me. She didn't like me. She loved me, but didn't like me, you know?" John nodded. "Life now is like...I don't know what i about to happen, but its okay."

"In otherwords, you look at it like adventure rather than in fear." She nodded.

"Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"Am I beautiful?"

"I think so." She smiled lightly. "Why?"

"I trust you, and you telling me things like I'm pretty, and calling me Sweetie and Honey didn't scare me, not even at first." He smiled over at her. "Have you heard the term Kindred Spirits?"

"Who hasn't?"

"I think we are," she said, finally snuggling into his arms. "Will you read to me tonight, Papa?"

"Are you reading Anne of Green Gables, by any chance?" She nodded. "How about after dinner and Star Trek?"

"Sounds like a plan."

A week had gone by, and Elliot was settling into work quite easily. He had moved in practically, seeing as Olivia had yet to let him back home. When she got mad, he knew to give her space. Elliot was still pissed that she'd even brought up James and his money. Allison was Elliot's daughter, and it wasn't fair to bring genetics into it. He knew Kathy would be by eventually to tear him a new one, but he had been lucky so far. Today, however, he could see her coming, knowing his luck had changed.

"Hey," she said gently into the office.

"Kathy, come in."

"She's a wreck, El," Kathy told him gently. "Olivia is convinced you're leaving her."

"Why the hell would she think that? Oh, wait, she took my kids and moved out. I'm 0 for 2."

"Nice."

"Sorry."

"So is Olivia. Talk to her."

"And say what? I'm sorry I took the job? I'm not! Don recommended me for it after they canned him! I took it because I love the job, and the pay raise was going to give Olivia more time with the kids. Don's not mad at me; Casey is not my biggest fan, but she doesn't hate me. My Squad wanted to throw me a little party, and it was Don Cragen's idea!"

"You could tell her you forgive her."

"Forgive her? For what?"

"Taking Allie from you."

"And Eli."

"Elliot, Eli is your child, biolocially. Allie's not. When she made that comment that she was taking her daughter, she took away your relationship with your daughter. She took Allie from you physically, and emotionally."

"I know," he said after a long sigh. "I don't know if I'm ready to."

"You better be ready, because she's home with the kids now, hoping that you go there tonight." Elliot nodded. "El?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For...?"

"Letting me back into your life. After everything I did and said. I was so horrible to Olivia, and our kids, and you forgave me at the drop of a hat."

"Kath, you were my wife for 20 years. I love you. I will always love you."

"Then if you love me, you'll go home tonight and make things right with her. She loves you. Olivia is so in-love with you that she can't think straight. And I can see that you feel the same." He grinned.

"How?"

"You used to look at me that way..."She trailed off, and left his office, for Elliot to think in the silence of the darkened squadroom.

Casey shrugged her coat off and hung it in the closet. Her apartment was dark and quiet. Don had been spending his days arguing his forced retierment with his attourney, but after a week, she'd asked him to just let it go. They'd talked about him retliring, and being a stay-at-home father. It had just come sooner than anticipated. He didn't want to accept it, but in the end, Don couldn't tell her 'No,' to save his life.

Elliot and Olivia were still living apart, but were working things out. Don gave it no more than 2 weeks and they'd be back to the loving family he wished he was still apart of. Olivia had been kind enough to fogive him for the mean-natured comment about not being her father. They'd talked it out and he knew he'd been wrong for that kind of damage he'd inflicted on her. He'd offered to take the kids for her 3 days a week, to save on daycare for them, as soon as the house was finished being remodelled. Casey was happy about that. He'd spend time with the kids, and hopefully, be a little more comfortable about having kids. Casey knew he was thrilled that they were trying, but she worried, deep down, that he was scared.

They'ed been married for 6 glorious weeks, and were very happily settling in to her condo for the time beeing. All of his clothes were moved over, and anything he would need while the house was being worked on. She'd met during lunch with Don and the contractor, and picked the carpets and new flooring for the kitchen and entry way. Don was happy to supervise, as it would give him something to do while she worked. The day before, they'd picked out wall colors, and discussedall the changes she would approve of.

"Hey," she said, spying her husband reading in her favorite chair. "How was your afternoon?"

"Busy. They're half way done moving all the furnature into the garage. Sold a few things online today, so things are looking pretty good."

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"About a month if they work as fast as I pay them to." He placed his book on the side table and pulled Casey onto his lap. "How was your day?"

"Dull. A few open and shut cases. You know, D.N.A. makes my life a whole hell of a lot easier some times?" He smiled. Casey was just so beautiful, even though she looked tired, and ready to go to bed.

"Made dinner," he offered.

"What's on the menu?"

"Fettucini Alfredo with shrimp." Her eyebrows shot up. "I enjoy cooking."

"We're the 1950's couple reversed, you know that, right Don?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just go change and I'll set the table." He playfully shoved her from his lap. "Smart ass."

"You love it," she called through the house.

"Liv?" Elliot called into the bedroom.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," he said, stepping in. "I should have talked to you about everything."

"No, Elliot, they cornered you." Olivia lay facing away from him. "We never had time alone," she said, after a long pause.

"What?"

"We started dating when Allison was an infant, and you had your kids every other weekend. We never had a honeymoon, and we really haven't had a vacation since...Jesus, I don't know when." He snorted.

"We need a couple of weeks somewhere nice, warm, and baby-free. Don't we?"

"Oh, God, yes," she moaned. "We need a vacation."

"Maureen could take the kids, and we could go camping next weekend-"

"No."

"We could get a hotel with a pool and a hot tub-"

"Yes."

"I'll make the arrangements," he said, rubbing her hip and side.

"El?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm so sorry about what I said...about Allie being mine and not ours."

"Its fogotten, Babe," he assured. "Olivia, I'm her dad, whether or not I'm her father. She's more my kid than the other five."

"How do you figure?"

"I chose her. The first four were, well, totally unplanned. I love my kids, but I wasn't ready to be a father, and I was a pretty bad one at that for the first few years. You got pregnant with Allison, and I just, I wanted her the minute you told me you were late. While you were pregnant, it was really hard for me not to brag about the baby. She wasn't mine, and I didn't want to risk losing you. When you went on maternaty, just before we started going together, Banny saw all the pictures of Allie covering my desk. He said, 'Genetics or not, she's my kid." Olivia turned to face him. "Liv, you are my wife, and you and these kids are all I got. The job means squat to me.Baby, don't take that away again." She nodded and hugged him tightly. "I love you, Liv."

"I love you, too," she relied softly.