**Hey, ya'll :) So, I couldn't quit writing! I really hope you guys like this chapter. It's not as sad and sappy, it's more about being reunited, etc. Review, please! (Muchas gracias for the reviews on chapter 1!)
Disclaimer: Don't own them...
As they slept, Olivia was woken every couple of hours by a nurse taking Elliot's vitals. After the young lady had come into the room around 6, Olivia just decided to stay awake. She slipped out of the bed and smiled down at the little girl still lying there. Pulling the blanket back over her daughter's shoulders, Olivia slipped her shoes on and turned around.
Seeing Elliot was just as shocking now as it was the night before. When she had left New York, she missed him more than she would ever admit. Crying herself to sleep became a regular habit, and even more so when she found out she was pregnant.
But, regardless of her feelings then, she had had enough time to straighten out how she felt now. She walked to his bed and placed her hand on his. Giving it a light squeeze, she bent down and kissed his forehead. "Morning, El," she whispered. Trying to smile, Olivia backed out of the room quietly. She didn't want to wake Emma up and her not be in the room.
As she rounded the corner, she saw the three men still in the waiting room. Fin was passed out across several chairs and Munch was sleeping sitting straight up. Cragen, on the other hand, was awake and smiling. "Morning," he responded to her presence.
"Morning," Olivia replied back. "Is there a coffee machine around here?" She ran a hand through her fantastic hair.
"No, I'll run down and get you a cup. I need one anyways," he told her with a smile as he stood up.
"You don't have to do that, Cap," she tried to argue against him, knowing there wasn't a point.
"You're getting coffee," he chuckled. "Go back in there before Emma wakes up."
Olivia nodded. "Right. Thanks," she replied as he was walking away.
She walked back into the hospital room and saw Emma still asleep. She smiled and decided to sit back down beside Elliot as she took a deep breath. "Come on, El," she pleaded. "Just wake up. I know you're hanging on, so just wake up." Squeezing his hand, she sighed as he didn't move.
As she sat beside his bed, she remembered the days that they had together. Some of the memories made her laugh, like when Kathleen called her instead of her parents to come pick her up from school after she got in a fight. And some made her cry, like when Elliot questioned whether or not they should be partners anymore after her throat was cut.
The door opening snapped her out of it, so she turned to see who it was. Cragen reached out as he handed her a cup of coffee. "Tall white chocolate mocha, non-fat, non-whipped, right?" he asked.
Olivia chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, thanks a lot." She took the warm cup in her hand and sighed, looking back down at Elliot. "Have you talked to the doctor recently?"
Cragen shook his head. "The doctor last night told us that him waking up…" he took a deep breath, "Probably wasn't going to happen. And that he'd be in every day, at least a couple of times, but mostly just for the nurses to give him enough medicine to keep him comfortable."
A big tear rolled down Olivia's cheek as she looked back down at her old partner. "I need to talk to that Lewis guy," she finally spoke up through clenched teeth.
Chuckling, Cragen opened the door. "I'm not sure if that's such a good idea, Liv. After all, it wouldn't be good for a cop to kill somebody in cold blood."
As he left, Olivia sighed. She looked over as she heard Emma make a noise. Putting her coffee down, she took a few steps and stopped beside the bed. "Momma?" Emma asked, her eyes still shut but she was feeling the empty bed beside her.
Olivia smiled. "I'm here, baby," she told the girl, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. With one of her eyes halfway open, Emma groaned, causing Olivia to chuckle. Her daughter had never been a morning person, much like herself.
"Momma, I's cold," Emma told her, pulling at the small fleece blanket.
"Well, we can't have Emmabug being cold, can we?" Olivia asked, climbing back into the bed. She pulled her daughter into her arms and felt her body relax. "Did you sleep well, baby?"
"Yes ma'am," the girl replied. "I dreameded 'bout butterfwies."
"You did? How many butterflies were there?"
Emma opened her eyes and looked up into her mom's brown ones. "Dere were kazillions!" she exclaimed. "And dey was all a diffent color, momma!"
"What color was your favorite?" Olivia asked, kissing the top of Emma's head.
"Hmm…" she thought out loud. "Probably da pink ones." After a few moments of silence, Emma looked up at Olivia, both girls smiling. "How did YOU sleep, momma?"
Laughing, Olivia grinned. "I slept very well, thank you."
"Momma…" Emma asked as she traced a finger against Olivia's arm.
"What, baby?"
"I's hungry a lot," she patted her stomach.
"Can you hear your stomach growling?" Olivia asked with wide eyes. Emma shook her head with a nervous look on her face. "Here, let me see if I can…" She put her head toward the girl's abdomen and suddenly blew against it, causing a weird noise to feel the room.
Emma squealed and pulled her mom's head back up to where it should've been. "No, momma. No ticklin'."
"But…I wanna tickle," Olivia pouted, making Emma grin.
"No, momma. We needs to eat bekfust," Emma told her matter-of-factly. Olivia laughed and climbed out of the bed, pulling Emma up after she was standing.
"Let's get dressed and we can go eat, okay?" Olivia asked as Emma nodded.
"Hey, guys," Olivia called out as she and Emma rounded the corner into the waiting room.
"Hey, guuuyz," Emma mimicked, earning chuckles from everybody in a certain distance.
Fin sat up with a grin spread across his face. "What's up, Emmabug?" he asked, opening his arms so she would run to him. She leapt into his arms and he spun her around, making her squeal.
"Unka Fin! Stop it!" she demanded. "We's gonna go eats bekfust." Putting a hand on her hip, she glanced back across the room at her mom.
"You guys want to join us? It's on me," Olivia offered, pulling her purse over her shoulder.
Munch stood up. "Nobody's gotta offer free food to me twice," he quipped with a chuckle.
"Cap, you in?" she asked, taking a few steps.
"Nah, I ate a little bit ago. You all go ahead, though."
"You'll call…" Olivia started.
"I will call as SOON as something happens," he promised. Olivia nodded with half of a smile, knowing she could trust him, but still nervous about leaving Elliot.
"Whatcha want for breakfast, Emmabug?" Fin asked, holding her against his hip.
"Hmmm…" the girl appeared to be in serious thought but she suddenly looked down with a smile on her face and her blue eyes big. "I want bacon and eggs," she placed her order.
Olivia chuckled. Every morning for all of the child's life, all she wanted was bacon and eggs. She could occasionally get Emma to eat a waffle, but the little girl was never thrilled about not having bacon and eggs.
After getting their trays of food, they all sat down. Olivia set up Emma's plate of eggs and bacon and opened her carton of milk. "Hold out your hands, Em," she instructed. The little girl did as she was told without question, knowing what was coming. The two grown men watched intently.
Olivia dropped a couple of drops of hand-sanitizer onto Emma's hands and onto her own hands. "Rub them together," she reminded Emma. The little girl followed her mom's actions and rubbed the alcohol gel onto her skin. "Good," Olivia praised. "Now show Uncle Fin and Uncle Munch that you can eat like a big girl." She pressed her lips against Emma's head as her daughter nodded in compliance.
"You're amazing with her, Liv," Munch observed, taking a bite out of his toast.
Smiling, Olivia looked down at her mini-me and chuckled. "I was just blessed enough to have an amazing kid," she replied graciously.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Fin called out, getting three stares from the people at his table. "You…Olivia Benson…just used the word 'blessed' in a sentence…" Olivia laughed and nodded her head. "Who are you and what have you done with our Bad…Benson?" he stopped himself before finishing her name in front of Emma.
"It's been three years, guys," she told them, glancing down and helping Emma hold her milk. "A lot of things change in three years. And, I'd like to think that I changed for the better." She looked across the table and smiled.
Munch dropped his head down slightly. "You know, Liv," he spoke softly, "Stabler went crazy when you left." Her eyes got wide as she stared down at her tray. "I'm sure even…uh…sleeping Stabler is happy about you being here."
Several hours later, the three guys had left and Alex and Casey had showed up. They all sat in the waiting room as Emma laid across the floor and colored in a coloring book. "So, Liv," Casey asked as she shifted her weight in her chair. Olivia looked up from Emma with raised eyebrows. "How have you been?"
She smiled and took a deep breath. "I've been good, Case. Emma keeps me busier than I was ever before and I'm working at Trenton, New Jersey's computer crimes unit. We have a small apartment that's perfect for us. Emma's in preschool three half-days a week. We're good."
Alex smiled as she leaned down and pointed to the coloring book. "You're doing so good, Emma!" she praised. The little girl smiled.
"Fanks, Aunt Alex," Emma replied. "It's for you."
"It is?" Alex acted shocked. "All for me?"
Emma nodded and looked over at Casey. "You is next, Aunt Casey," she told them as she went back to coloring.
The women laughed. "Where are you staying, Liv? You can't stay in the hospital with Emma," Alex asked.
Taking a deep breath, Olivia sighed and looked towards the ADA's. "I can't leave. You guys know that."
The redhead and the blonde both nodded as they all looked back down at Emma. "Let me take her for the night," Casey offered.
"You don't have to do that, Case," Olivia replied. Of course the hospital wasn't the best place for Emma, but she would be okay.
"Seriously, Liv. Let me take her. Fin would love to play with her and you know I'm good with kids." Olivia chuckled.
"I'll help out, too," Alex chimed in. "We can take her to dinner, then back to Casey's place. We'll bathe her, read her a story, kiss her goodnight, ya know…the whole nine yards."
Olivia smiled and stood up, walking to where Emma was. She sat in the floor beside her daughter and smiled as Emma looked up, her blue eyes wide. "Emma," Olivia asked, "Do you want to go stay the night with Aunt Casey and Uncle Fin?"
Her little eyes got even bigger as her lips curved upward. Nodding furiously, she stood up and crashed into her mom's chest. "Can I, momma? Pwease?"
Chuckling, Olivia hugged Emma. "As long as you promise to be a big girl and be good."
"I pomise, momma! I is going to be da best big girl in da world!" She squeezed her arms around her mom's neck as she begged and bargained.
They gathered Emma's stuff up and switched the car-seat from Olivia's vehicle to Casey's. Before they left, Olivia picked Emma up and hugged her tight. "You be good, baby, okay?" Emma nodded. "If you need me, just call, Case," she looked towards the redhead.
"We'll be fine, momma!" Casey replied with a laugh, taking the girl from Olivia. She fastened her into the car-seat and hugged Olivia. "I'll have her call you before she goes to sleep."
Olivia nodded with a smile. "Bye, Emmabug!" she called out before she reached for the door. "I love you!"
"Bye, momma! I loves you, too, lots and lots!" the little voice called out.
Watching as they drove off, Olivia's heart sank. She knew Emma would be fine, but she still didn't like the idea of being away from her for so long. Shaking her head, she grabbed her back out of her vehicle and eventually made it back to Elliot's room.
She sat her bag on the extra bed and walked back over to his bed, sitting in the chair beside it. As she sat there, her hand eventually found his as she propped her chin up with her other hand. Looking his bruised body over, she sighed. "Elliot Richard Stabler, I NEED you to wake up." After watching him not move for a moment, tears filled her eyes. "Please, El…" she begged with a catch in her throat.
Taking a few deep breaths, she calmed herself down. She sank back in her chair, not letting go of Elliot's hand, and squeezed her eyes shut. Dozing off, Olivia slept for about an hour before she was jolted out of her slumber.
Looking over, she saw people coming in the door so she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Liv?" she heard a girl ask as she opened her eyes.
"Mo! Katie!" Olivia squealed back and stood up, both girls running into her.
"I can't believe you're here!" Kathleen told her, stepping back with a grin on her face.
"Yeah," Maureen agreed with her eyes pinched together, but still smiling. "Where have you been, Liv? We've missed you!" She hugged Olivia again before Olivia stepped back, revealing their father lying in the hospital bed.
Both girls immediately teared up as they stepped up to the bed, holding a hand up to their faces. "Oh, God…" Maureen gasped.
"Daddy?" Kathleen asked, reaching down to touch his hand but jerking it back when she made contact.
Olivia sighed and pulled both of the girls into her arms. "He's going to be fine, girls. You just have to wait it out," she assured them.
"Captain Cragen told us that the doctor said dad probably wouldn't wake up," Maureen sobbed into her chest.
"You just have to have faith, Mo. Now, you girls quit your crying because you know your dad hates it when you cry," she instructed. "Pull up those chairs, we have some catching up to do, huh?" she asked with a semi-smile.
Following their orders, Mo and Katie both pulled a chair to the side of their dad's bed and took deep breaths. "So…Liv," Maureen cleared her throat, "How have you been? Where have you been?"
Smiling, Olivia pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I've been good," she told them. "I live in Jersey."
"Alone?" Kathleen asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.
Shaking her head with a smile, she passed the phone to the girls. "She's so cute! Who is she?" Maureen exclaimed.
"She's my daughter. Emma. She's three."
"Oh, Liv! Congratulations!" Maureen replied with a smile on her face as she wiped another tear away.
"How have you guys been? I heard you were in Honduras."
Kathleen smiled as she nodded and wiped a tear from her cheek, looking down at her dad. "Yeah, we both signed up to be missionaries in underprivileged countries. Dad wasn't thrilled at first, but he got over it," she chuckled.
"We get to go around, help people get their feet back on the ground, find jobs, all of that stuff," Maureen added.
"That sounds amazing, girls. Really. I'm proud of both of you," Olivia smiled.
"So, does dad know you have a daughter?" Maureen asked cautiously, glancing between her dad and Olivia.
Shaking her head and biting her lip, Olivia sighed. "No. Not yet."
"She's his, isn't she?" Kathleen asked softly.
"Yeah," Olivia nodded and looked down at Elliot. "How'd you know?"
As she smiled, Maureen sighed. "She has his eyes."
Olivia chuckled. "That she does."
"Why'd you leave, Liv?" Kathleen asked bashfully, not wanting to upset Olivia.
About the time Olivia opened her mouth to answer, she felt something on her hand. She didn't think anything of it, so she shook her head quickly and looked back at the girls. "There was a lot going on…" she started. Feeling something on her hand again, she looked down.
Her brown eyes got huge as she saw Elliot's fingers moving. "Oh, God!" she gasped as her heart started racing. "Get the doctor!" she told one of the girls.
"Daddy?" Maureen asked as Kathleen flung the door open.
"He's awake! We need a doctor!" she yelled, running back to the bed.
Olivia's eyes began to fill with tears as she saw his blue eyes squinting open. "Excuse me," one of the doctors spoke as he pushed past Olivia. She backed up against the wall at the end of his bed and cupped her hand over her mouth.
"Daddy, can you hear me?" Kathleen asked, taking his hand in hers.
In the daze he was in Elliot's eyes slowly darted around the room, registering the faces. He observed each face, but stopped on one in particular. 'The girls…the doctor…the nurses…and, wait…is that possible?' he asked himself.
His eyes fixated on hers as the doctor and nurses buzzed around him, hitting buttons and checking his vitals. Once they had slowed down, the doctor smiled at Olivia and the girls. "He seems to be fine," the doctor spoke in a surprised voice. "But let him get his rest when he wants it," he instructed, earning three nods.
The girls stepped back to his bedside and squeezed his hand. "Daddy…" Kathleen called out, noticing he wasn't responding to them.
Olivia, still pressed against the wall, stifled a sob as her entire body shook. Her heart stopped when he opened his mouth. "Liv?" his raspy voice asked, confused, as he blinked his eyes a few times.
Smiling through her tears, Olivia nodded and slowly walked to the bed, his eyes following her. "It's me, El," she told him, placing her hand on his. He squeezed her hand, still staring at her in disbelief. "I'm here," she promised as more teardrops fell down her cheeks.