**Hey, guys. So, I'm pretty busy with school but I wanted ya'll to have another chapter to read :) I hope ya'll are having a great week!
Thanks for the reviews, btw...they make me smile mucho :D
Don't own them..sadness...
"What happened?" Elliot asked groggily, unsure of where he was. He felt a lot of pain in his chest and his leg, but he didn't know why.
Maureen and Kathleen both squeezed his hands as Olivia stepped back towards the end of the bed. "You were shot, daddy," Maureen told him.
"Your so-called partner," Kathleen scoffed, "Didn't have your back and the bad guy shot you. You've been in a coma..."
His eyes pinched together, he nodded gently. After taking a few minutes to get readjusted to everything, watching Olivia as he did so, he took a deep breath. "You came back," he finally spoke.
Wiping a tear from her cheek, Olivia nodded with a half-smile. Maureen looked between the to detectives and smiled. "Come on, Kathleen, we need to go call people. Don't worry, dad," she told him as she held the door open for her sister, "I'll tell everybody not to come until tomorrow since it's almost midnight tonight."
Elliot smiled as best he could and watched as the girls left. His eyes immediately turned back to Olivia who was still propped against the wall at the end of his bed. "Have a seat," he told her, motioning to the chair beside his bed, cringing as he moved. He was in complete shock that she was actually there.
Moving slowly, Olivia sat in the chair beside him as her eyes wandered down to her own fidgeting hands. "I can't believe you're here," he eventually spoke.
She looked up and nodded, choking back a tear. "Fin called me yesterday and told me what happened," she shrugged.
"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," he told her, sitting up somewhat in his bed. "I thought you hated me, to be honest." He was getting his bearings back as he retraced certain memories in his mind.
"I could never hate you, El. You know that." Taking a deep breath, she sighed. "I'm sorry I left." Her usually strong voice wasn't the voice that was speaking. She sounded weak and hurt.
"Hey," he said with a smirk, "Let's not talk about this now, huh? I just want to talk with my best friend." Olivia smiled and placed her hand on the bedrail, being taken by surprise when Elliot took it in his own hand. "How have you been?" he asked as he ran a thumb across the back of her hand.
"I've been good," she told him with a genuine smile, thinking about Emma's smiling face.
"Is that all I get?" he chuckled. "Just 'I'm good'? I need more, Liv." His blue eyes traced her facial features as he saw her take a deep breath.
Looking back up at him, she weakly smiled. "I have something I need to tell you, El, and I'm not sure how you're going to take it," she spoke softly, afraid of how he was going to take the news, but knowing she had to tell him. After all, she drove all the way to New York with Emma and didn't plan on leaving until Elliot was all healed up.
"What, Liv?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. He noticed she had the look on her face that she usually got when she had to break bad news to parents or family members about a murder victim. After he saw her bottom lip quiver, he tilted his head to the side, squeezing her hand. "You can tell me," he assured her.
"After I left," she started, noticing her hands were beginning to tremble, "I found out that I was pregnant."
Not knowing how to react, Elliot just nodded and waited for her to continue.
"We have a daughter, El," she finally told him, her eyes locked on his. She saw his jaw drop as his eyes became a lighter shade of blue. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything," she spoke mainly to herself. "Fucking hell," she mumbled, putting her forehead in her spare hand.
"We have a daughter?" he asked, tugging on the hand he was holding. Olivia nodded but continued to rest her head on her hand. "That's…that's amazing, Liv!"
Catching her by surprise, Olivia's head popped up with narrow eyes. "You're okay with this?" she questioned. She figured that he would've been furious for her hiding their daughter after leaving abruptly without saying bye.
"Of course I'm okay with this!" he exclaimed with a grin. "What's her name? How old is she? Where is she?"
Lightly laughing, trying to take it all in, Olivia shifted her weight in the chair. "She'll be four in June and she's with Casey and Fin."
"What's her name, Liv?" he asked, running his thumb across the back of her hand.
Smiling, her brown eyes stared into his blue ones. "Emma Katherine Stabler."
Hearing her name sent Elliot into a state of pure bliss. "I'm speechless, Liv. So, so speechless."
"I'm so glad you aren't upset with me," Olivia told him, exhaling a big breath.
"You know good and well I can't be mad at you," he reminded her with a chuckle. "You may have been gone for three years, but I have a feeling we're picking up where we left off."
"I hope so," she admitted, "Plus an extra kid." Chuckling, she realized how happy she was at that very moment. Her heart was still racing, but it was the kind of fluttering you get when you get your first kissed or tell someone you love them.
"When do I get to meet her?" Elliot asked, also beginning to realize how happy he was. Sure, he had been in a coma, his chest was killing him, and he had a cast on his leg, but all of that didn't matter to him anymore.
"Casey and Fin will bring her by tomorrow sometime."
"What does she look like?" he asked, completely intrigued.
Smiling, Olivia pulled out her phone. Pushing a few buttons, she finally pulled up a recent picture of Emma and handed it to Elliot. "She's your little twin," he laughed and smiled.
"Yeah, with the exact replica of your eyes," she rolled her eyes.
Still smiling as he handed the phone back to her, Elliot shook his head. "I'm really glad you're back, Liv."
"Me, too," she spoke softly. "When Fin called and told me what happened," her eyes began to get watery, "I didn't know what to do. I felt horrible for leaving you but I knew I couldn't just sit in New Jersey and leave you here."
"Hey, come here," he told her, pulling on her hand.
"I don't want to hurt you, El," she shook her head and resisted his tugging.
"Either you come over here or I'm coming over there," he warned her with his Stabler-grin. God, that grin…she had missed it so much while she was away. Standing up, Olivia gently leaned over the bedrail and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I've missed you so much," he whispered, running his fingers along her shoulder blade.
He heard her let out a soft sob as she gave in to his embrace. "Hey, shhh…" he tried to hush her. "Hey look at me," he told her as he lifted her chin up and smiled. "I'm not mad at you for anything, Liv."
"But…" she tried to object.
"But, nothing," he cut her off. "I'm not mad. You did what you had to do and now you're back. That's all I can ask for. Really, I'm not mad, okay?" Nodding slightly, Olivia tried to smile through her tears as he wiped them away. "Just promise not to leave without saying goodbye again," he chuckled.
"I promise," she told him as she sat back down in the chair. "Besides," she chuckled, "Emma told me that she wouldn't leave until she met 'mommy's friend.'"
"How come I get the feeling she's just like you?" he laughed softly, watching her every move.
Shrugging, she tried to look innocent. "I don't know what you're talking about."
After chatting with Elliot, Kathleen, and Maureen for a couple more hours, Olivia had fallen asleep in the chair next to Elliot's bed. The girls were sharing the extra bed when Olivia woke up. Stretching, she realized that she was getting too old to sleep in weird positions like she could years ago.
Looking around as she ran a hand through her messy hair, she saw Elliot smiling at her as he pretended to flip through a magazine. "Morning," he spoke quietly, not wanting to wake his two oldest daughters up.
Olivia smiled and straightened out her shirt. "Good morning."
"Maybe you have changed," he chuckled, flipping past another page.
Raising an eyebrow, Olivia tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Well," he told her with his Stabler-grin, "The Olivia Benson I knew would've rather been shot than say 'good morning' to anybody."
"Having a toddler will do that to you," she chuckled. Feeling her phone vibrate, she pulled it up to check the caller ID. "Speaking of…" she told him, holding a finger up. "Hello?"
"Hey, Liv," Casey groaned.
Olivia held back a laugh. "What's wrong, Casey?"
"First, you didn't tell me whodunit would be up at the crack of dawn. Second, you have someone wanting to talk to you," Casey informed her. Olivia chuckled as she ordered Fin to fix her a giant cup of coffee.
"Put her on," Olivia instructed, smiling up at Elliot.
After a shuffling noise, she finally heard Emma's sweet voice. "Momma?"
"Morning, baby," Olivia greeted. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes ma'am," the girl responded politely. "When I get to see you again, momma?"
Looking down at her watch, Olivia smiled. "You get to come see me whenever Aunt Casey and Uncle Fin get ready and drive you here, Emmabug." Elliot grinned at the idea of meeting his little girl.
"Aunt Casey! Unka Fin! We gots to hurry!" she heard Emma squeal, dropping the phone.
"Liv, I'm going to kill you for whatever you just told her," Casey threatened and hung up the phone.
Olivia laughed and pulled her phone down from her ear. "I may have forgotten to mention to Casey that Emma gets up at 6 every day on the dot," she chuckled as Elliot laughed. "I have a feeling the entire NYPD is going to visit you today, I hope you're ready."
"As long as I get to see you and Emma, I don't care who else shows up," he told her, glancing up at her from his magazine as she smiled bashfully.
Within the hour, Kathleen and Maureen had both gotten up, Cragen showed up with coffee for everybody, and the doctor came to see Elliot. After bugging the doctor about when he would get to go home, Elliot relaxed a bit. The doctor told him that as long as he had someone to take care of him, Olivia volunteering immediately, he would get to go home that afternoon.
Maureen and Kathleen had retreated to the waiting room with Cragen after being told to come tell Olivia when Casey, Fin, and Emma got to the hospital. "Liv, they're here," Maureen stuck her head in the door.
Smiling, Olivia stood up and gave Elliot's hand a squeeze. "I'll be back," she told him as she opened the door. Shutting it quietly, she rounded the corner and saw Emma running towards her.
"Momma!" the little girl squealed as Olivia scooped her up and hugged her tight.
"Hi, baby," Olivia greeted, kissing her on her cheek. "Were you good for Aunt Casey and Uncle Fin?" Carrying her back to the waiting room with everybody else, Olivia smiled as Emma nodded furiously.
"I was very good, momma. Da best."
Olivia smiled and kissed Emma's forehead. "You want to go see mommy's friend?"
Nodding with a grin, Emma wiggled herself out of her mom's lap. "Here goes nothing," Olivia mumbled, straightening her shirt.
As they got to the door, Olivia knocked softly and pushed the door open, smiling down at Emma. "Come on," she guided her daughter into the room, looking up at Elliot. Grinning when she saw his wide eyes and smile, Olivia chuckled as Emma clung to her leg, pulling on her hand.
"Up, momma," Emma asked, burying her face in Olivia's leg.
Olivia pulled her up and kissed her cheek as she walked towards the bed with her daughter on her hip. As they got closer to him, Emma hid her face in the crook her Olivia's neck. "Elliot," she spoke softly, "This is Emma. Emma, can you say hi to mommy's friend?"
Emma shook her head, not looking up, only leaving Olivia with one choice. She poked her daughter's side with a finger and wiggled it causing Emma to squeal and sit up straight, pushing at her hand. "Stop it, momma," Emma instructed, pointing a finger towards Olivia.
Laughing, Elliot covered his mouth trying not to scare his daughter. "There she is," Olivia smiled, kissing Emma's forehead. "Look, baby," Olivia pointed at Elliot. "See? He's not scary is he?"
As her blue eyes nervously looked over at him, Emma fiddled with the ribbon on her dress and shook her head. "Now, can you say hi?"
Emma visibly took a deep breath and looked bravely over at Elliot. "Hi, mommy's friend," her tiny voice spoke.
"Hi, Emma," Elliot replied, smiling as he tried not to laugh. "Did you have fun with Aunt Casey and Uncle Fin?"
Her eyes got big as she tilted her head. "You knows dem, too?" Olivia laughed as she rubbed Emma's back.
"Yep, sure do," he told her. "Uncle Fin is one of my best friends."
"Mine, too," she responded matter-of-factly with a grin on her face.
Olivia sat down in the chair next to the bed and smiled as Elliot and Emma interacted. It warmed her heart knowing that Elliot wasn't upset with her and that Emma seemed to liked him. "How old are you, Emma?" he asked with a grin.
"Dis many," she told him as she carefully held up three little fingers.
"How many is that, baby?" Olivia asked.
Turning her head back with a cocked eyebrow, Emma tilted her head. "It's free…you knowed dat already, momma," she informed Olivia. Her answer sent Elliot into a fit of laugher.
"She really is just like you," he chuckled, making Olivia grin and roll her eyes.
After talking for a while, Elliot could see the gears in the little girl's head turning. "Momma…" she asked as she looked between Elliot and Olivia.
"Yeah, baby?"
"Is he my daddy?" she asked bashfully, glancing cover as Elliot choked on air.
Olivia smiled down and kissed her daughter's forehead then looked up at Elliot, non-verbally asking what to do. Slowly, Elliot smiled and nodded, staring Olivia in the eyes. Looking back down at Emma, Olivia smiled. "Yeah, baby. He's your daddy."
Emma coyly smiled and batted her big blue eyes. "Can I hugs him?" she asked, looking up at her mom.
"As long as you're very careful and don't touch any of the wires that you see," she told Emma, lifting her up into Elliot's arms.
Wrapping her small arms around his neck, Elliot smiled past her over at Olivia. "Hi, daddy," Emma whispered, pulling her head back to look at him.
"Hi, princess," he replied, kissing her forehead.
"Momma, he calleded me p'incess!" Emma told her excitedly.
Olivia and Elliot both laughed. "I heard, baby." Emma settled into Elliot's side and sat perfectly still.
"Well, that's what you are, isn't it?" he asked, smiling down at her.
She nodded with a grin. "My mommy calls me Emmabug. Like a…what its name, momma?"
"Like a ladybug," Olivia replied and laughed, noticing two pairs of blue eyes staring back at her.
Hearing a knock on the door, Elliot looked up from the coloring book that he and Emma were coloring in. "Come in," he called out. He smiled as he saw the guy in the white coat. "Sup, Doc?" he asked, returning to his Princess Jasmine picture in the Disney coloring book as Emma colored Ariel.
Giving him a strange look, the doctor decided to shake it off. "Good news, Detective Stabler," he started, "All of your scans look great. After consulting with some other doctors, we determined your coma to be from all of the stress on your body. It was your brain's way of saying to take a break for a minute."
The doctor fiddled with his IV and flipped the chart open, jotting something down inside. "Who dat man, daddy?" Emma asked, her eyes full of curiosity.
"That's daddy's doctor," Elliot told her with a smile. "Hopefully here to tell me I can go home now," he shot the doctor a look.
"Everything looks great," the doctor confirmed. "The only way I'm letting you out of here today is if you have someone to be there with you."
"That's me," Olivia said, scooting to the edge of her seat.
"Great," the doctor smiled. "Detective Stabler, absolutely no working for at least four weeks. I want to see you in here every week so I can check to make sure everything is heeling like it should be. After the four weeks is up, you'll be able to return to work but only on desk duty for a while."
Elliot groaned. "Fine, just let me sign the papers and leave."
The doctor, who happened to deal with Elliot on a regular basis with different rape victims, rolled his eyes. He didn't take Elliot's statement personally, he just handed over the file and pointed to the line.
After signing, Elliot looked up and smiled at Olivia then smiled down at Emma. "Ready to go home, princess?"
Nodding with a grin on her face, Emma carefully pushed all the crayons back into the box and closed the coloring book. "Let's go, momma and daddy," she told them as she lifted her arms up for Olivia to pick her up.
"This should be fun," Olivia chuckled as she sat Emma on her hip.
"More than you know," Elliot agreed, gently sitting up in his bed.