The Black Market Baby Scandal
(Chapter Eight: Laying Down The Law)
Olivia had gone and seen the lawyer Elliot recommended earlier that morning. She was due to call him any time now and Elliot waited nervously at his desk. After her meeting, she was supposed to call him so that they could have lunch together and discuss what the lawyer had told her.
Finally his phone rang. "Stabler," Elliot said waiting to hear her voice. Normally he could tell exactly what was on Olivia's mind just by hearing her speak. But today proved to be a challenge.
"Hey," she said softly.
"Hey. How did it go?"
"I would rather wait and talk about it when you get here."
"Here? Where do you want me to meet you for lunch?"
"It started raining, so I just came home. I thought we could just order in and talk."
"Sure, I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Thanks, El."
"No problem."
This didn't sound good. Elliot felt a little uneasy about the way she spoke to him. She didn't really sound bad, but she didn't really sound good either. And it was her lack of emotion during their conversation that concerned him. He stacked his files and placed them back into the file cabinet, neatly. He pushed his chair in and grabbed his car keys as he slipped his jacket on.
Fifteen minutes later Olivia's door bell rang. She opened the door to find Elliot standing there with a small bouquet of mixed flowers and $40 worth of Chinese food. Olivia laughed and smiled at him.
"Flowers?"
"Yeah."
"What for?"
"Well, I figured you either got good news and these were to congratulate you or the news wasn't so good and you could use a little cheering up."
She smiled again as he handed her the bouquet.
"You're right. I could use a little cheering up."
"Eww. That bad, huh?"
"Not bad, I guess. But not really good either."
Elliot sat the food down on the kitchen counter. He pulled the little white paper boxes out and handed one to her with a pair of chopsticks. "Your favorite," he said pointing to the box. He handed her a diet soda, then picked up his food and followed her to sit on the couch.
Olivia exhaled deeply and tipped her head back for a moment.
"So was the lawyer able to help you?"
"Yeah, she's gonna help me. It is just all so complicated."
"Complicated? I figured you being the biological parent would have rights."
"Well, that is one thing we talked about. I have no rights at all right now, because I have no proof that she is my biological child. I have to get an order from a judge to get a DNA test to prove that Sarah is my daughter. Because she is technically a ward of the state, I have take this through court."
"That is insane. Look at her."
"I know, El. But she is right. We got so wrapped up in finding her and trying to see her that we sort of jumped the gun and skipped that very important step. I should have thought of that. I know in my heart she is mine. But there is still a small chance that she could just be a child who looks like me. God, I hope that isn't true. I love her so much already and I don't want to let her go. But I have to get that test before I can move forward."
"So you get the judge to sign the papers for the DNA test and you find out she is your child, then what?"
"Then I have to adopt her."
"What?"
"She is a ward of the state. Chances are they will place her with me temporarily and have someone check up on us for a while. Like a probation period. They will want to make sure that I can provide a safe and healthy living environment for her. Get her to school and stuff like that. They wont just place her with me, they want to make sure I can care for her first. After that I file with the agency to regain my parental rights. I have to legally adopt my own child. But once that is final, she is mine. Forever. And no one can ever take her away from me again."
"You weren't kidding when you said it was complicated. They are making you jump through hoops."
"She is worth it Elliot. There is not anything I would not do for her."
"What about the Jensen's?"
"She will remain with them until all of this goes through. My lawyer went to talk to the judge about the DNA test this afternoon. She is supposed to call me when they give her a time. The test will take a day or two to come back, they are not going to send it off. They are going to do it locally, so they can rush the results. Once those are in, she is going to contact the Jensen's lawyer and we will all meet to arrange a custody agreement to abide by until the adoption goes through. But it will be in writing and signed by the judge. So they will be forced to follow it. Right now we are waiting on the DNA test."
The next morning Olivia and her lawyer met up with the Jensen's, Sarah and their lawyer at a local doctor's office to be swabbed for DNA. The Jensen's were particularly upset by the demand for a DNA test. Though it was not exactly Olivia's idea, it seemed to be her they were displeased with.
She sat across the room next to her lawyer waiting to be called back to see the doctor. She watched as the Jensen's tried to keep Sarah from even making eye contact with Olivia. It was killing Olivia to see them like this with the little girl. She was just a child and she was caught in the middle of this grown up mess. She hadn't done anything wrong.
"Sarah Foster," the nurse called out into the waiting room. Olivia watched as Scott and Mary stood up with Sarah. "I'm sorry, I cannot allow all of these people back here. You can go in and that's it," the woman said pointing to the Jensen's lawyer.
"Come along Sarah, this will only take a minute." The woman grabbed Sarah by the hand and pulled her toward the hall leading to the examine room.
"I don't want to go," Sarah protested as she tried to pull away.
"You have to. The judge said so," the lawyer demanded tugging on her arm once more and refusing to let go.
Sarah began to cry. "Please, I don't want to."
Olivia watched almost in tears as the terrified girl cried and begged them not to make her go back. She couldn't take it anymore. Against the advice of her lawyer, Olivia stood to talk to Sarah.
"Sarah, it's okay. There is nothing to be afraid of."
Sarah stood still and stared into Olivia's eyes as she smiled through her tears. The woman pulled at her again.
"Can you just give her a minute?" Olivia asked looking at the woman. "Can't you see she is afraid?"
"The doctor has other appointments. If she is going to be a little while, Ms. Benson, are you ready?" The nurse called across the waiting room.
"Yes."
"You and your attorney may come on back. You are in room two."
Olivia grabbed her purse. And headed back toward the room. She looked at Sarah who was confused and looked horrified.
"You need to find a way to get her back here," the nurse said to the Jensen's attorney.
"What if I send Mary back with her?"
"The documents state that the attorney's are to be present at the time of the testing. To witness. Whatever you have to do to get her back here, make it quick."
Olivia watched as the Jensen's attorney knelt to look at Sarah, who now had tears streaming down both cheeks. "Do you want your mom to come back with you?"
Sarah looked at Mary Jensen and then back at Olivia. "Yes. I want Olivia to come with me," she sobbed softly. She looked up at Olivia with tears in her eyes and a look that begged her not to leave her alone in this. It was breaking Olivia's heart to watch her cry.
"What if she watched while they did mine? You can be right there with her. And that way it wont be so scary for her."
The two attorneys looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
"Fine, lets just get this over with," the Jensen's attorney said as Sarah pulled her hand away and reached for Olivia's.
Olivia knelt to look her daughter in the eye. "Is that okay with you? It wont hurt, honey. I promise. They just take a little cotton swab thing and rub it on the inside of your mouth, then it's all done. It doesn't hurt at all," she said as she wiped away the child's tears. "Are you ready?" Olivia opened her hand and offered it to Sarah.
"Yeah," Sarah said with a soft smile. She placed her hand inside Olivia's and took a deep breath as they walked back into the examine room.
"Who's first?" The doctor asked as he walked in and washed hands. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and turned to look at Sarah and Olivia.
"Do you want me to go first so you can see what they do?" Olivia asked looking at Sarah. Sarah nodded her head slowly.
Olivia sat down on the examine table and opened her mouth as the doctor ran the swab along the inside, then placed into a container and sealed it with a sticker.
"See, all done. Doesn't hurt a bit."
Sarah smiled as Olivia lifted her to sit on the table. She tucked a strand of long brown hair behind Sarah's ear as she felt Sarah's hand slip into hers.
"It's gonna be okay baby," Olivia said softly as she looked deep into the little girl's eyes.
Sarah opened her mouth and the doctor swabbed her as well. Afterward Sarah held tight to Olivia's hand as they walked back out into the waiting room where the Foster's sat looking irritated.
"Our results will be in by Thursday morning, I'd like for us all to meet in my office let's say around five o'clock Thursday evening to discuss the results and work out some kind of temporary custody agreement," Olivia's attorney suggested.
"We'll be there," the Jensen's attorney agreed and they shook hands.
"Let's go Sarah," Mary Jenson said reaching for the girl's hand.
"I have to say good bye to Olivia," Sarah replied pulling away from her and moving across the room to hug Olivia tight.
"Good bye, sweetheart. I will see you again as soon as I can."
"I love you, Olivia."
"I love you too, honey."
Just then Mary Jensen grabbed Sarah by the hand and pulled her out the door. Olivia watched and waved back as Sarah waved to her all the way out to the Jensen's SUV in the parking lot.
"I wish you wouldn't encourage her," Olivia's attorney said from behind her.
"I can't ignore her. She didn't do anything wrong. Why should she be the one punished for any of this?"
"You are standing here in public, in front of the Jensen's and their attorney hugging the child and telling her that you love her and we are not even sure if she is your child yet."
"I'm sure. I just know it. I feel it. She is mine. And I wont stand here and deny that I care for her just to make them feel better about the situation. I know this is hard on them. But it is hard on Sarah and I, too. And I am sorry that they are inconvenienced by the fact that I want her back, but that is something they need to get used to. The sooner, the better. And if you are not comfortable with the way I handle myself around my child, then maybe I should seek other representation."
The woman stared at her stunned for a moment.
"Do you have children?" Olivia asked.
"Two."
"Do you hug them? And kiss them? And tell them that you love them? And comfort them when they are afraid?"
"Yes. All of the time."
"Then who are you to judge me for loving my child?"
The woman nodded her head. "You are absolutely right, Ms. Benson. I'm sorry. Would you like me to refer you to another attorney?"
"No. I have one," Olivia said with a smile as she picked up her purse to walk to her car.
"Five o'clock, Thursday. Don't forget," the woman called out to her.
"I could never forget," Olivia replied as she climbed into her car.
Finally it was Thursday evening and time for the meeting. Olivia sat in her lawyer's office waiting for the Jensen's and their attorney to arrive. On the conference table in front of her laid a large manila envelope with their DNA test results inside.
Olivia crossed her legs and waited patiently as everyone else entered and were seated around the table and her attorney began to speak. Olivia was nervous and could hear nothing until the woman picked up the envelope and began to break the seal. Then it were as if there were no other sound in the world but her voice as she read those words.
"The DNA samples were a match. Olivia Benson is the biological mother of the minor child, Sarah Foster."
Olivia could barely contain her excitement. Everything in her had told her this was her child from the moment Elliot showed her Sarah's picture. She was right. Now she had to do whatever it took to get her back.
"Olivia and I have discussed some ideas for a temporary custody arrangement. Since Sarah is currently attending school we think that she should remain in the Jenson home during the week for the time being. Olivia would like visitations with the child one night a week and every other weekend until this matter is settled in court. This arrangement would also include unlimited, unsupervised phone calls between Sarah and Olivia. By this I mean there are no set days for phone visitations. The calls will be placed during a reasonable hour, not after eight o'clock in the evening and not lasting more than one hour. I have typed up a list of these conditions. If this arrangement is acceptable, we can all just sign now. We are open to suggestions and negotiation. Any changes that are agreed upon in this meeting will be forwarded to my secretary and I will have the new agreement drawn up and forwarded to your office to be signed."
They took a short break and Olivia and her attorney stepped out of the room to allow the Jensen's time to discuss the arrangement with their lawyer. She leaned against the wall in the hallway and called Elliot.
"Liv, what's up?"
"It's a girl," she said and he could hear the smile in her voice. "I have the proof I needed. She is mine, Elliot."
"That's great. I knew it. But it is just a relief to know that you finally have the evidence to prove it and now you can move forward with the adoption."
"I am supposed to go with my attorney tomorrow afternoon to file the paperwork to proceed with the adoption. Right now we have made a suggestive custody arrangement and they are in the room with their lawyer discussing that. Then we'll go back in and if everyone agrees, we will sign it and then we will have that part worked out. Hopefully my visitations will start this weekend."
"Wow. That would be wonderful."
"Ohh, El. I have to go. They are calling me back in. I'll talk to you when I get out of here."
"Bye, Liv."
An hour later Olivia arrived at Elliot's apartment with her copy custody agreement in hand.
"So?"
"I pick Sarah up Friday evening at six o'clock and I don't have to take her back until Sunday at six o'clock."
"That is awesome, Liv!"
"God, I cannot believe that I finally get to spend time with my kid. My daughter. It just doesn't seem real."
"What is your arrangement?"
"I get her for a couple of hours one night a week. So we can go out to dinner or whatever. I get her every other weekend and I get an unsupervised one hour phone call every evening between six and eight o'clock."
"What are you guys gonna do this weekend?"
"I have no idea. I am just so excited to have her. I think maybe just some downtime. This entire thing has been so intense and stressful. Maybe this weekend we will just kind of play it by ear. I just want us to have time to relate to each other and I want her to be able to relax completely with me. I want her to allow herself to become comfortable with the apartment as well. It isn't just my space anymore, it is our home. I was also thinking that we could toss around some ideas for decorating her room. I already have the bed in there. But I figured the rest we could do together."
"Did she say how long the adoption part should take?"
"We will probably continue this for at least a few months. The court will start sending someone to observe every now and then. They will also assess the home and school I plan to put her in. After the visitation goes on like this for a little while we will transition into her staying with me and visiting with them. Probably very similar agreement, only she will be living with me full time. And as long as I can meet all of their guidelines and provide a healthy stable environment, probably in the next six or eight months the process should be complete."
"After you have adopted her, what happens with the Jensen's?"
"I don't want to take her completely away from them. They really care about her and she cares for them. So I guess as long as things go well and there are no problems with the visitations we can just use a similar arrangement to the one we have now. Only she would be with me most of the time."
"This is wonderful, Olivia. I am so glad that this is finally happening for you."
"Yeah, it only took twelve years."
"She's a great kid. And I have seen you with her. You are an amazing mother. I am just glad that Sarah is finally going to be able to get to know you as her mother. To actually know what it is like to have a mother again. I am so excited for you, Liv."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"No, really. Thank you. Elliot, I never would have found my daughter if it wasn't for you. You helped me through this as a friend, but you were also the one who suggested that I look into it in the first place. And you kept me going, kept me motivated. I have my baby back because of you, Elliot. That is by far the most wonderful thing that anyone has ever done for me."
"We're friends Liv, it's my job to look out for you and help you find the things that make you happy in life."
Olivia smiled and hugged Elliot.
"You are a very kind person, Elliot Stabler."
"You almost sound surprised."
"No. I know you well enough to know that somewhere underneath this tough guy exterior was a wonderful, kind hearted man. I know it, because I see him so often. When it is just you and I. When no one else is around and we are just hanging out together, just two friends existing. I see him." She stared into his eyes. "This sweet, strong, dependable, incredibly romantic man that you try so hard to hide from the rest of the world. I see him. I know him. He is my best friend."
Elliot smiled. "I guess there a lot of things we share with each other that we hide from the rest of the world. We just kind of have this bond, Liv. I don't know what it is exactly. But I feel closer to you than I ever have anyone. And Kathy and I were married for almost twenty one years."
"I know what you mean. Almost like siblings, but we aren't related."
"We're not related, Olivia. But we are family. And I would do anything for you, I would do anything for Sarah."
"That's sweet, El."
"That is how family works, Liv. They are the people in your life you would go to the ends of the earth and back for. And I would if you asked me to. You know that, right?"
"I know that," she said with a smile as she squeezed his hand.
"We never talk about it. I mean, I know that you know that I have always got your back. But we never say it. I have never told you how much I cared about you. Maybe, we should say it. Because in our line of work, you never know if you will ever get the chance again. I love you, Olivia."
"Aww. I love you too, Elliot. And I cannot wait for Sarah to really have the chance to get to know you. I know she is going to love you, too."
Olivia laid down beside him on the couch. Her head at one end and his at the other as they watched television. Before long, they had both fallen asleep.