i do it for the joy it brings/because i'm a joyful girl/because the world owes me nothing/ and we owe each other the world/i do it because it's the least i can do/i do it because i learned it from you/and i do it just because i want to /because i want to-Ani DiFranco "Joyful Girl"

Two weeks passed by and Olivia had decided that she needed to figure out the due date of their child.

Olivia stared out at the buildings passing by as she and Elliot drove to her new OB/GYN's office. Olivia's stomach was doing flips as they approached the tall building that held the office of the doctor who would tell them when to expect their child. Elliot managed to find a parking spot fairly close to the front doors. They climbed out of the car and Elliot came up behind Olivia, linking his hand with hers. She leaned her shoulder into his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Why do I feel like I'm walking the gangplank?" she joked and Elliot smiled.

"It's a little bit nerve-wracking isn't it?" He squeezed her hand in reassurance, "It'll be okay. He's a great doctor."

Olivia nodded. Elliot had history with Doctor Barnes. He had been Kathy's OB when she was pregnant. He trusted this doctor and he knew him well. He had delivered his first four children. They reached the elevator and were quickly brought to the eighth floor. They stepped out into a bright, sunny office filled with women. Olivia allowed Elliot to check in for her before they sat down together to wait.

As nervous as they both were, their conversation flowed easily. They laughed about the grouchy receptionists fake, long, tacky, red fingernails and conferred on how Kim was going to handle the Turner case. Olivia had decided to press charges for assault on a Police Officer and she had been dragged into the messy world of testimonies and lawyer games.

The couple was giggling about making Munch and Fin dig through the garbage bins behind Turner's house because Olivia claimed to be too morning sick to do it, when a voice caused the hair on their arms to stand up.

"Elliot? Olivia?"

"Kathy?" Elliot jumped up and instantly assumed an aggressive position, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see Dr. Barnes for a check-up. What are you doing here?" She wore confusion boldly across her face. Elliot glanced down at Olivia and suddenly the confusion turned into realization.

"You've got to be kidding me." she hissed. Elliot bit his lip and waited for the storm that was about to hit, "Olivia? You swore nothing was going on!"

"Kath, there was never anything going on." he defended.

"You knocked her up? How long did it take you to jump from my bed to hers? A week? Or did you just never leave it from the first time?" she spat, "And you bring her here? To MY doctor? Did you WANT to get caught by me?"

"Dr. Barnes is the best doctor in the city. I trust him..."

"God Elliot- this is just great. How am I going to explain this to the kids?"

"You don't have to... I will. Maureen and Kathleen already know."

Kathy looked like she had been slapped. "What do you mean? You told them before you told me?"

Elliot's brow furrowed in confusion, "Why is that a problem? They're my children- they deserve to know if they're going to become big brothers and sisters again."

"Elliot... I can't believe you..." Kathy wore a look of pure disgust on her face.

"Don't tell Lizzie and Dick. They'll never forgive me if they don't find out from me."

"Why should I do you any favors? I ask you to stay away from one person and you can't even do that."

With that Olivia stood, furious, "You lost the right to tell Elliot who he had to stay away from the day you divorced him. You did not assume the right to make his children hate him because of your own petty jealousy. You're not only hurting Elliot if you do this. How do you think Dickie and Lizzie will feel?"

Kathy recoiled at being scolded by her ex-husbands lover. She scowled when the nurse came out and called Olivia's name before Kathy had a chance to retort.

"Come on El, lets go." she took his hand and he followed her back into the doctors office.

After the nurse told them Dr. Barnes would be in soon and closed the door, Elliot started pacing in the office. "She's going to do whatever she can to hurt me. She's going to tell them as soon as possible." he muttered as Olivia changed into a gown. When she was finished she stopped Elliot from wearing a path into the floor and turned him towards her.

"Text them and tell them we're coming to pick them up as soon as we're done here. They're probably free."

Elliot chewed on her idea for a few moments before pulling out his phone and shooting off a message to the twins. Within seconds he received a message from Lizzie claiming she was at a friends but would he was free to pick her up there if he wanted and a message from Dick saying that he was at the park playing soccer and to call him when he was on his way. Elliot let out a sigh of relief and nodded his appreciation to Olivia.

"Thank you. I feel better." he leaned in and kissed her and she smiled.

"It's what I'm here for."

That's when the door swung open and Dr. Barnes walked in, "Hello Olivia. I'm Doctor Barnes." he then landed his eyes on Elliot and a confused grin filled his face, "Elliot- what are you doing here?"

"Hello Doctor... I'm here to find out more about my baby..."

"Not that it's any of my business but you do know Kathy is in the waiting room, correct?"

Elliot coughed while nodding, "Yeah, we found out the hard way. She wasn't very pleased to see me here."

"Well, she'll just have to learn that things change." he reassured Elliot. He then turned to Olivia. "It's nice to meet you Ms-"

"Detective-" she interjected and Dr Barnes raised an amused eyebrow.

"Detective Benson. So, you're here to find out the due date and general health of your child?"

"Yes..."

"Well, lets get started. Just sit up here." Olivia climbed into the bed and Dr Barnes covered her legs with a sheet before lifting her gown over her stomach, "Do you know the date of conception?"

"I'm not %100 sure. I think I'm around three months."

"Well, let's just see. This might be a bit cold." he squirted a fair amount of jelly onto her stomach before switching on the sonogram machine next to them. Elliot clutched her hand and leaned in to see the screen. Dr Barnes placed the wand on the jelly and moved his around. Suddenly the sound of steady beats filled the office. Dr Barnes let a large grin spread across his face and he pointed to the shape of a blob on the screen, "That is your baby. Strong heart beat... And that... his finger moved up the screen to another blob, "Is your baby's twin."

Olivia felt a rush fill her body. She felt like she was floating. Elliot's hand squeezed hers even tighter and he brought her head up against his chest.

"Twins?" he whispered.

"Absolutley. Let me just take a few measurements and I can tell you when to expect them."

Olivia turned to Elliot. Disbelief had taken over their bodies and senses.

"Twins..." Olivia whispered, "We're having twins?"

"I guess they run in my genes." Elliot stated.

"This is unbelievable." she laughed and Elliot kissed her deeply.

"You better believe it by March 25th. That's their due date." Dr Barnes stated as he wiped off the excess jelly and lowered her gown, "Everything looks good here. They seem healthy and so do you. Now, do I need to read you the riot act about working or is that all figured out?"

"I've cut back. Elliot and I work together. He's there to watch out for me."

"Sounds good. Well, here you are." Dr Barnes handed Olivia a small print out of their sonogram and Olivia stared at it longingly before reluctantly handing it to Elliot, "Now, you should decide whether or not you want to know the gender of your babies because when you come in next, I'll be able to tell you." Olivia and Elliot nodded and Dr Barnes smiled, "Congratulations Detectives. I'll see you in two months." He shook Elliot's hand and winked at Olivia before leaving the room.

Olivia got dressed quickly. Elliot stared at her the whole time in amazement. When she finished putting her shoes on she raised her eyes to Elliot and she could not hold back the smile. She suddenly threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. "Twins. Twins!" she laughed and Elliot started laughing too. He hugged her back and kissed the top of her head.

"This is great Liv. Speaking of twins- we better go pick up Dick and Liz..."

Olivia practically floated to the car. Kathy was not in the waiting room as they left and she was grateful for that. Though she didn't feel that even Kathy could bring her down from the cloud she was riding. Elliot sent quick messages to Lizzie and Dickie stating that he was on his way before pulling away from the office building. They were nearly at Central Park when Elliot suddenly pulled over.

"What are you doing?" she asked but Elliot just smiled and told her to wait in her seat. She tried to twist and see where he was going but didn't see which shop he entered in time. He was back within five minutes and started the car again and called Dickie.

"Hey Dick- yeah, what side are you on? Oh, we're right by there. Yep. You see me? I see you-" he then hung up his phone and watched as Dickie grabbed his soccer stuff and bid farewell to his friends before running to the car and climbing in.

"Hey Dad. Hey Olivia. What's up?"

"Not too much. We had some time before we have to go to work and we thought we'd take you for coffee." Elliot stated, "It's been a while since I've seen you."

"Fair enough. I wanted to see you too."

"Good. Now, do you know where Lizzie's friend Chelsea lives?"

"Yeah. She's not far from here." Dickie quickly gave his father directions before falling into an easy conversation with Olivia about his soccer team and school and his friends. They arrived for Lizzie and she was already waiting on the steps. She waved goodbye to her friend before jumping into the car.

"Ugh- Am I ever glad that's over." she moaned as she buckled herself in, "Hey Dad. Hi Olivia!" Elliot smiled at the excitement in his daughters voice when she realized Olivia was in the front seat.

"Did you have a bad time?" Olivia asked.

"Chelsea's nice and all, but all she does is talk about her stupid boyfriend. There's only so much a person can take."

"It's true." Olivia agreed.

"So- what are we doing?"

"Well, Liv and I thought we might take you out for coffee."

"You're not working?" Lizzie asked.

"Not till later." Olivia answered.

"Sounds good. Drive Jeeves." she joked and Elliot pulled away from Chelsea's house. Elliot grinned as he listened to Dickie and Lizzie chatter away with Olivia about their lives. Olivia was eating it up. She laughed at the right times, gasped at the right times and cared the right amount. It wasn't long before Elliot pulled into a coffee house near his new house.

"How's this?" he asked and everyone in the car agreed. They trekked into the quaint shop and ordered their drinks. Lizzie and Dickie grabbed cold drinks while Elliot snagged a black coffee and Olivia ordered a decaffeinated chai latte. The quartet sat down at a booth, all the while the conversation and teasing and laughter never let up. It almost seemed like Olivia and Elliot weren't going to get a chance to tell the twins their news. They had almost forgotten why they had called the twins when suddenly their phones went off at the same time. Lizzie got to hers first as Dickie tried to dig his out of his pocket.

"It's mom. She wants to know where we are."

"Oh jeez. What did we do now?" Dickie mumbled as he pulled his phone out to read an identical message, "Just tell her we're with dad."

Before Elliot had a chance to object Lizzie had sent of the message. It didn't take long for Lizzie to frown at Kathy's response, "She said she wants us home NOW! What pissed her off?"

"Whatever. Ignore it. We'll be home soon anyways." Dickie responded and Lizzie shut her phone.

"When do you have to get back to work?" Lizzie asked as she sipped her drink.

Elliot looked at his watch and frowned, "Soon. So we should probably tell you why we really called you."

Lizzie and Dickie shot each other looks before setting their drinks down, "What's going on?" Lizzie asked.

"Well... I'm sure you haven't really thought about my romantic life since the divorce..."

"You'd be correct in that assumption." Dickie cracked.

"But I'm sure you didn't expect me to stay single forever..."

"Now, that's an incorrect assumption." Lizzie was clearly teasing her father.

Elliot then smiled at his children. "Well..." he took Olivia's hand in his and placed it in front of them, "I'm not single... I haven't been for a while..." he explained.

"Ohmygod." Lizzie's eyes widened dramatically and Dickie grinned like the Cheshire cat.

"Dad- you dog. How'd you manage to bag Olivia?"

Olivia's eyes widened in surprise at the comment before she started to laugh. Elliot rolled his eyes at his son, "Thanks Dick. That's really good for my self-esteem."

"I'd think that scoring with Olivia is enough self-esteem to last you a while." Dickie joked and Lizzie laughed.

"How long have you been together?" Lizzie asked.

"Almost a year." Elliot stated and Lizzie laughed.

"I knew those pillows were too girly for you to have picked them out!" She referenced the couch pillows that Olivia had collected.

"So... why are you telling us now?"

"Ohmygod, are you like, totally in love and getting married?"

"We'll have to see about that. But we do have news for you." Elliot then reached into his pocket and handed the twins each a small piece of paper. Olivia smiled when she realized that he had given them the sonogram.

The twins eyes widened in shock. "I assume there's a baby in this photo- but I have no idea where it is." Dickie stated causing everyone to laugh. Elliot leaned over the table and Dickie turned the paper so he could reach it better. Lizzie leaned in so she could see what was going on.

Elliot pointed at the first white spot, "That's one baby." his finger then moved up the paper to point out the identical white spot, "And that's the other baby."

"What?" Lizzie squeaked and Olivia leaned over to hold her hand, "You're having twins?" she asked, staring into Olivia's eyes.

Olivia smiled and nodded, "And I can only hope they'll grow up to be half as great as you two... I'm hoping that they'll be lucky enough to have you around for them to model after."

Lizzie and Dickie smiled at the compliment, "Of course they will."

"Do Maureen and Kathleen know yet?" Lizzie asked.

"They know that Olivia is pregnant. But they don't know that we're having twins. We thought that we should tell you first."

"Does mom know?" Lizzie questioned tentatively.

Elliot frowned and nodded, "She found out today... She's not very happy."

"Hence the angry messages." Dickie stated.

"Well, I'm happy for you. Congratulations dad." Lizzie squeezed her fathers hand.

"Yeah, at least this way, we know you wont die alone."

"Thanks Dickie."

Olivia and Elliot jumped when their cells phones started blaring. The couple sighed when they saw messages from Cragen. The twins watched as the partners suddenly transformed from a happy couple to a pair of angry cops.

"You have-"

"Got to be kidding me."

"Turner escaped?" Olivia turned to Elliot and he looked like he was ready to punch a wall. She then turned to the twins and sighed, "Do you mind if we give you money for a cab? This is an emergency."

The twins nodded and Elliot gave them enough money to get home. The detectives stood and Elliot kissed his children, "Good luck with your mother. I love you."

He barely caught the "Bye dad" as he and Olivia ran from the coffee shop.

So... had some crazy malfunction leading to no reviews of my last chapter. I say in protest of the glitch everyone posts TWICE the amount of reviews for each story! That'll teach electronics to have malfunctions!