Kathy Stabler watched as the last hearse rolled past where she, her youngest daughter and Alexandra Cabot were standing. The wailing of the bagpipes more than covered the sound of grief that she could almost see surrounding the crowd. Further down, towards the street, she could see her husband and his partner saluting. The gold button on the right cuff Elliot's of dress uniform twinkled in the sun as his arm trembled.
Kathy cursed her husband's stubbornness. His right shoulder had been injured and he shouldn't have been moving his arm at all. Though she hated it she understood.
This past week had been an even larger than normal emotional roller coaster in the Stabler house. Elliot was all over the place and had finally exploded the two nights before. It began when Elizabeth had admitted, with some prompting, that one of the boys she went to school with had attempted to put his hands up her shirt.
Elliot's tirade had been stopped cold when Dickie told his father that he didn't have to beat the kid up. Elizabeth already had. Elizabeth had objected saying that she had only bloodied his nose and gave him a black eye.
The Stabler parents spilt their reactions to that news. Kathy didn't like that Elizabeth had reacted with her fist but Elliot was delighted his youngest daughter had popped the kid. The fight that had ensued was loud enough to send Kathleen, the most sensitive of their kids, into tears.
Kathy didn't know what to do for Elliot. His refusal to talk to a therapist was no surprise and after the mess with Detective Jeffries who could blame him. One moment he was fine and then next he would be shouting or fighting tears. Elliot didn't like to let anyone see him cry. Kathy was an exception to that rule and she had held him more than once over the past week.
Kathy didn't know what to make of the fact that they had sex each of the four days since the shooting.
She heard Elizabeth sniffle and slipped her arm over her shoulders. Elizabeth, who frequently accompanied her father to departmental softball games, had known two of the officers killed. Kathy knew that in her daughters pocket was a ripped up batting glove Officer Jillian Brown had given her. She also knew that Elliot had the matching one in his pocket.
The crowd began to mill around them and Kathy squeezed her daughters shoulder then pulled her into a hug. When they finally let go Kathy turned to Alex to say something. She was caught by surprise when a boy who looked to be about three ran up to Elizabeth and threw his arms around her legs.
"Bef!" He cried looking up at her.
"Hi ho there Baby Buddy Ben," Elizabeth said and the boy giggled.
"Ben! Don't run… I'm sorry he got away from me," a short red headed woman said as she approached. Elizabeth glanced at her and Kathy saw her do a double take.
"Oh. Sorry. You must be Hannah. I'm Elizabeth Stabler," the young girl said after staring at the woman for a long moment.
"Bef!" Little Ben said again with a grin.
"Ah, that explains why Benjamin ran off. Jillian told me about you."
"This is my mom Kathy and Ms. Cabot," Elizabeth said as Ben trampled her feet.
"We've met. Hannah," Alex said with a nod.
"Right. You work for the dark side. I forgot. I can't think good today," Elizabeth said.
"The dark side? Hmmm… Your father certainly has a way with words," Hannah said with a small smile. "Or did my sister tell you that?"
"Jillian. She used to…" Elizabeth stopped to compose herself then continued. "She used to tell me that you were adopted and that Darth Vader was your real dad."
Hannah chuckled and shook her head sadly. She spoke softly, "That sounds like Jillian all right. She tried to convince me I was adopted when we were kids. I almost believed her then our brother Xavier spoiled her fun by pointing out that we all looked way too much alike to not be related."
"I'm really sorry about Jillian. I liked her a lot. You really look like her. I didn't mean to stare," Elizabeth told her.
"Thank you. It's okay. Do you look like your siblings?" Hannah asked.
"No," Elizabeth said firmly.
"Yes," Kathy corrected.
"Care to break the deadlock Alex?" Hannah asked lightly and Alex shook her head.
"I always hated it when people said my sister and I looked alike," Alex told them.
"You have a sister? I didn't know that," Hannah replied.
"Bef! Bef!" Ben said bouncing again.
"Bef?" Dickie asked as he approached them with his two oldest sisters.
"I wouldn't tease her Dickie. She might punch you," Maureen told him. Kathy cleared her throat and gave all four of them a warning look. Elizabeth smiled angelically.
"I'm not stupid Maureen. Way too many cops here to…" She stopped and thought for a moment.
"Commit egregious bodily assault," Alex supplied.
"Yeah. That. Thanks," Elizabeth said.
"Well if you need a defense attorney have your parents give me a call," Hannah told her. She put her hand lightly on Elizabeth's shoulder and gave her a soft smile. "Your mothers right you know. Come on Benjamin. We need to go find your Daddy."
"DA!" Ben cried looking around. Hannah scooped him up before he could take off again. He grinned at Elizabeth and squirmed towards her. The young girl offered her arms and his aunt let Ben go to her. Elizabeth hugged him for a long time then gave him back to Hannah with tears in her eyes. She stared crying when Hannah turned to find Ben's father.
"More waterworks?" Dickie asked.
"Don't be a jerk," Maureen scolded him.
"That was Officer Brown's sister and son," Kathy told him as Elizabeth wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
"He's so little he doesn't even know she's gone," Elizabeth sniffled. She looked as if she were about to burst into sobs.
Alex offered Elizabeth a Kleenex and then spoke softly. "How did you know Officer Brown?"
Kathy watched Alex focus all of her attention on Elizabeth as she explained. Then Alex gently asked a few more questions and shared a short and what Kathy suspected was a highly edited story about Jillian Brown. It took Alex about five minutes to make Elizabeth smile at a memory.
Elliot and Olivia approached slowly with their hats in hand. They stopped to speak to someone Kathy didn't know. After a moment Elliot, then Olivia hugged the woman and continued towards them.
"I didn't notice Olivia limping yesterday," Kathy commented.
"Slight sprain and some bruising. She's been hiding it pretty well," Alex replied.
Kathy noted that they were both watching the Detectives as they spoke. She had been intimidated by the ADA when they first met. The feeling had lessened slightly over time and watching her with Elizabeth had caused it to go away completely.
"Thank you for inviting us to your mothers. I think it'll do us all some good to get out of the city," Kathy told Alex.
"Mom has wanted to meet Elliot for a while now," Alex replied distractedly, her attention on the two detectives.
"Hope she knows what she's getting herself into," Kathy said to Alex as she gave Kathleen a 'don't you dare' glare. Kathleen pulled the knuckle she had been wetting out of her mouth and smiled innocently.
"She'll love your family and will point out all of the joy that we are missing by not having children," Alex said dryly. Kathy nodded but didn't reply.
The two detectives finally made their way to them. Alex hugged Olivia carefully as to not hit any of the cuts on her side or back. Then she just as gently hugged Elliot. Elliot then turned to Elizabeth who buried her face in his chest and held on tight.
"Elizabeth…" Kathy began but Elliot stopped her.
"It's okay, Kathy," Elliot lied.
"Sorry," Elizabeth said pulling away.
"Come on Lizzie, walk with me," He said tossing his good arm over her shoulder and leading her away from the group.
Elliot and Elizabeth led the group back to the station house lot where they were parked. Olivia trailed behind slowly in an apparent effort to not limp. She fooled no one. Kathy thought several times that Alex was going to say something but she managed to remain silent.
They broke into two groups for the drive upstate. Dickie was a little put off that Elizabeth and Kathleen got to ride in Alex's cool car while he and Maureen were stuck with their parents. Kathy pointed out that had he not been harassing his sisters all morning it might be different. Elizabeth just stuck her tongue out at him as Alex pulled out.