Author's Notes:
Thank you all for sticking with this story. For reading and reviewing. I really hope you all have been enjoying it so far.
If anyone has Family by Novak please let me know!
Elliot looks around the room he and his son have started working on. Everyday after he comes home from work, if it's not too late, he and his son do some work on it. He thoroughly enjoys the time spent with his boy. He never realized how much he didn't know about him. He still fit the annoying little brother mold to a T, but he had matured a bit and was smarter about it. He was funny and still quite the jokester. He was smart, and incredibly good with numbers. He's expressed to him how he wants to go to Georgetown and study accounting. How well he's doing in football, though he can't wait for baseball season to start. The new school and surroundings seem to fit him well. He has already made new friends and his grades are at an all time high. He's even got a crush on a girl named Melody and asked his advice on how to ask her out. It is time Elliot knows he will now cherish forever.
He flips through the different paint swatches in his hand trying to decide on the perfect color. Something not too dark or too light. It's not a baby's room so pastels are out, and anything too dark will make the room somewhat of a dungeon rather than a bedroom. Maybe Sea Ridge or Royal Peacock. Blue, or green? They say green is calming. Garden Medley or Festive Green. When did colors get so fucking complicated?
"I don't know Dad, when did they?" He spins around and is surprised to find Elizabeth standing behind him. She surveys the room, which is in various stages of repair. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to pick out a color for your brother's room."
She nods and takes the swatches from him and begins to flip through them. "So how's it coming?"
"It was coming along fine, but I'm going to have to make some changes here and there."
"How come?"
"Well, I designed the first room for you, now it's going to be for your brother."
"So what are you going to change?"
"Well, I was going to have shelves for you to put your books and stuff on this wall," he walks over and shows her. "Maybe a couple of bean bags so it can be some kind of reading corner for you. I know how you like to read and how hard it is to find a quiet spot in this house, and with the babies coming I don't expect it to get any quieter. And one of the guys had this desk that he was trying to get rid of, now that his daughter has moved out so I was going to put it in this corner over here," he says as he walks over to the corner and shows her. "Then I was going to knock out this wall here and put in a bathroom. Your sisters used to always complain about having to share a bathroom. I thought you would have liked one of your own. I guess maybe I should still build one for Rick."
"What about TV and stuff?"
"Well, Walmart is going to have these flat screens on sale on Black Friday so I was just going to get one we could afford and mount it to the wall, but Rick already has a pretty impressive TV in his room that your Mom got him for his birthday last year. So I think I might try to find him an entertainment center so that he can hook up his stereo and video games and stuff. Then his bed can go over here. Maybe a mini-fridge here for drinks and stuff. Liv's been looking online for a futon and some other stuff on eBay and Overstock, so maybe she'll find some cool stuff."
Lizzie nodded and surveyed the room trying to picture her father's vision. "So, you really weren't going to just put me down here like that?"
"Of course not. Why would you think that?"
She shrugs. "I just didn't think you would put so much thought into it. Who knew interior design was your thing." She smirks. She stops on a paint swatch and hands it over to him. "I think you should do this color."
He looks down at the color. "Gem Turquoise? Don't you think this is a bit girly for your brother?"
"It's not for him. And I want black bean bags and white shelves. I'm going for a Tiffany theme. So I'll help Liv look for some furniture and posters and stuff. And I expect to see some tile samples soon," she replies as she heads back up the stairs.
Elliot looks down at the paint sample she has picked and smiles to himself, shaking his head.
xXx
Elliot returns home early one evening and is surprised to find their home fairly quiet. Normally it is filled with the sounds of Kayla's laughter as the TV blares her favorite cartoon. Liz and Rick bickering for some reason or another. Olivia making dinner. But this evening the TV is off and there is no laughter. No bickering. No sounds of dinner being made, but the comforting aroma of a home cooked meal wafts through the air and he removes his shoes and hangs his blazer on a hook before heading into the kitchen. He finds Olivia in the living room a magazine in her hand. She looks up from the article she's engrossed in and smiles at him.
"Hey," she greets him.
"Hey," he replies and leans over her to kiss her quickly on the mouth, and rubs her stomach. "Anything good in there?" he nods towards the magazine.
"No. Just another article about whether or not Kim Kardashian's butt is fake."
He shakes his head at her. "Why do you read that crap?"
"Because it makes me happy. It's my guilty pleasure. Don't judge me. Are you hungry?" she asks him and tosses the magazine on the coffee table.
"Yea," he answers and lends a hand to help her up. She is roughly twenty weeks along and her abdomen is clearly swollen with their children. They spend their nights talking to them and feeling them move about inside her. There is a glow to her that he loves that seems to shine brighter with each passing day. "But I'll get it."
"Fix me a plate too? I'm starving."
"Should I make plates for the kids too? Where are they?"
"No, they ate already. Rick wanted to play ball with Tony, Scott, and Toby, so he's down the street."
He freezes. "Wait, you let him go alone?"
Tony and Scott are good kids. They both play on the football team with Rick. He's met their parents and they've spent plenty of time at the house, but Rick is still not allowed to hang out with friends unsupervised. It is a privilege he has yet to earn back, a trust that has not been bestowed on him yet.
"Liz went with them and took Kayla with her. I think he's going to meet Melody. I heard him on the phone telling someone that Kayla was going to be there and you know how she loves her. I told them to be back by seven so they should be home within the hour."
"Oh," he replies and takes down two plates. He opens the pots and finds that she has made pot roast and wild rice pilaf for dinner. "How'd she seem today?" They've been trying to keep a closer eye on Lizzie since her 'incident' without being too obvious. He begins carving the chicken while she carefully takes a seat around the dinning table.
"She was quiet when I picked her up from therapy, but she seemed fine once I got her home. Hung out with Rick and his friends before dinner. There's salad in the fridge," she calls out to him.
"How come you didn't eat with the kids?" he asks as he puts the finishing touches on their plates, dressing each of their salads with ranch dressing and putting utensils on each plate.
"I wanted to eat with my husband," she answers as he sets her plate down in front of her and his in the seat beside hers. He returns to the kitchen and grabs a glass of water for her and a beer for himself.
"Next time don't wait for me if you're hungry. You shouldn't be starving yourself when you're pregnant. But thanks for waiting. I appreciate it."
"Well I didn't exactly starve. I had some cookies while I waited."
"With or without apple sauce?"
"Without. I had vanilla Oreos with milk."
"Finally! Something normal." he smirks at her and she smirks back. They eat in a comfortable silence and the only sounds around them is the hum of the fridge and their forks and knives hitting their plates. "So ah…how was your day?"
"It was ok," she answers.
"That's good," he replies and continues to eat his food. Once again silence surrounds them, and he tries again to strike up a conversation. "So um. Have you had any major breaks in the case you were working on?"
"No. Not really. We're still trying to break through all the bells and whistles the guy has set up. It's taking a lot longer than I thought it would."
"Isn't there some kind of software out there you guys could use?"
"Don't you think that if there was we would have used it by now?" she snaps. "Sorry. I-I didn't…sorry. We-we're doing all we can, but lets not talk about work." He watches her struggle to choose her words carefully. Afraid that she may reveal some kind of incompetence. Shoot way above his head and belittle him. Use the wrong words and hurt him. Or worse, start an unintentional fight. This is what their relationship is now. This is what every conversation they have tried to have has been reduced to. Walking on thin ice. Afraid that the wrong step will lead to the end. He remembers a time when they could say anything to each other without it leading to anything serious. He misses that time. "This guy knows what he's doing and we need to be careful to not alert him that we're on to him otherwise he can erase everything, and then we'll have nothing."
"I see."
She nods. "Tommy Keagan is having a birthday party this weekend, and he invited Kayla. Think we can go?"
She's changed the subject in an attempt to avoid a mishap like before. Talking about the children has now become safe territory for them. They seem to communicate best when it comes to the welfare of their children. "I think I'm on call this weekend, but we can try."
"We'll have to eat before going over there. They're vegans."
"Oh God. They're the ones whose party we went to last year and they had that gluten free cheeseless pizza aren't they? And the sugarless cake. What's the point of that?"
"I don't know, but that was the Fullertons. The Keagans had the carob cake and the tofu sandwiches."
"Yuck! Yea, if we go we're definitely hitting a pizza joint or something before going over there."
"'K. Any suggestions on a gift?"
"Books?"
"Didn't we get them books last time?"
"No. That was Melissa Ford. Because her parents didn't want her to have dolls or anything fun."
She chuckles at him. "We gave books to the Fullerton boy too. I don't want it to become our thing. I'll go looking for something tomorrow."
"Ok."
"El…"
He looks up and sees her hesitate, and from the look on her face he can tell iit's serious. "Liv?"
"Nevermind."
"No, what? C'mon. Talk to me."
"Do you think I'm a bad mom? Because I didn't notice what was happening with Lizzie?"
"Olivia, I'm her father and I didn't notice."
"Yea, but that's because you're always at work." It's mentioned in an off off-handed way, but it still hits close to home, but he quickly dismisses it in favor of continuing the conversation. "I'm here with her. Everyday. I should have seen something. I mean, I used to work with these girls day in and day out. Something should have…I mean, really."
"Liv, she hid it well. There are three of us here and none of us saw it. She always seemed fine to me. You're not to blame for what happened."
"I don't know. I feel like I'm losing my touch you know? Ever since I transferred out of Special Victims. I don't know, I feel like I'm missing a part of myself."
"Do you want to go back?"
"I would love to go back, but going back means long hours and being back on the streets. Late night calls. Blood and tears. Nightmares. Time away from our kids. I love how much I've been able to watch Kayla grow since transferring out, and with the girls coming-"
"Boys," he interjects.
"Girls," she corrects. "I don't want to give this time up. And if it's them or the job, I chose them. Besides. Both of us can't work Special Vics and raise a family."
"I could transfer out. Get something more low key so I can be around more."
"You would do that?"
"I'd do anything for you, Liv. If going back to SVU is really what you want, we can make that work."
"No, I'm fine. The gesture is nice, but I like the way things are now."
"Alright. Let me know if you change your mind."
"I will. Oh, and before I forget, I have an OB appointment tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Didn't we just go last week? Your next one isn't supposed to be until next month."
"I know, but something doesn't feel right so I wanted to get it checked out."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the babies are starting to move around a lot more now, and it just feels like one baby is a lot more active than the other, so I wanted to make sure she was ok."
"One of the babies isn't moving?!" He quickly stands from his seat tipping the chair over and reaches for her hand. "We're going to the hospital right now."
"Relax El," she says. "The baby is moving, just not as much as the other one." She takes his outstretched hand and places it on her abdomen. "See, that's her moving right now. I just want to make sure that nothing's wrong and that she's more like her father."
"He, Liv. You have to think boys. Otherwise we're going to have more girls."
They've decided not to find out the sex of the babies, which he believes is a stupid idea, given all the things they need to buy for them, but she wanted to be surprised this time, and this pregnancy is supposed to be about sharing the experience together, so he agrees to remain in the dark with her. They constantly go back and forth about the sex of the babies. Due to the sharing of the placenta they are sure that their twins will be identical, but that is all they know for sure. He believes hey are boys, and while she believes the same, she still enjoys teasing him about the possibility of them being the opposite.
"And what's wrong with that?"
"Nothing. You know I want two healthy babies, and as amazing and wonderful it would be to have two more girls, I think it would be a bit selfish."
"Is that so?" she grins at him.
"Yes. But seriously, Liv. Are you sure you don't want to go to the ER now?" He asks as he rights his chair and sits back on it.
"Yes, El. It's probably me just being paranoid," she says and steals a piece of chicken breast off his plate.
He gives her what he has left and takes some of her salad as a replacement. "Alright. I'll ask Cragen if I can get an hour or two. What time is the appointment?"
"Two. And don't worry about it. He's just going to do a quick ultrasound to make sure everything is ok. There's no need for you to take off of work for this."
"No, I want to be there."
"It's not necessary, really El."
"Alright, but you call me the moment the appointment's done. Good or bad."
"Good or bad," she assures.
xXx
His phone rings as he leaves a potential witness' apartment. He accepts the call and brings the phone to his hear, "How did it go?" he asks, having already seen his wife's name displayed on his caller ID. There's silence on the other end and a shaky breath comes through his phone. "Liv?" he questions.
There's a hitch in her voice and then she answers shakily. "Something's wrong."
I know kind of short, but I will make up for it I promise. Maybe a double posting. Maybe a super long chapter. Who knows? Thanks for reading!
I just found out that not may Not he able to update next week due to the fact that my laptop is being sent away for repairs. Hopefully it will be back in topi top shape by next Tuesday.