Title: Beginnings

Author: ZombieJazz

Fandom: Law & Order: SVU

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Law and Order SVU and its characters belong to Dick Wolf. The characters of Will (and his family) and Noah have been created and developed for the sake of this AU series.

Summary: Olivia's baby arrives - but not without complications. Elliot's there to help her through, though. This story is set after Changes and is a prequel to A Complicated State of Happiness and Undeserved.

Author's Notes: This AU series is for SVU fans and readers who want Olivia to have something that resembles a more normal life outside of work and a family of her own - hopefully somewhat realistically within the canon of SVU. Her relationship with Elliot is that of partner and protective older brother and colleague.

Elliot gave her a small smile as he came into her recovery room and pulled the curtain back shut behind him. She looked exhausted – and still a little emotional, though also almost right out of it. She still had an IV going into her one arm and a blood transfusion working its way into her system in the other.

He sat down in the chair next to the bed. "How you doing?" He asked.

She shook her head. She eyes looked heavy. "It's all kind of a blur. I feel sore."

He snorted a little. "Yeah, I guess so. They cut you open and pulled a five pound baby out of you, Olivia. You lost a lot of blood too with the placenta abruption."

She nodded weakly. "I know. But they said the baby's OK?" She asked hopefully. "Are they bringing him to me soon?"

He looked down. "I think they're going to bring him in for you to get to spend some time with him again after they get you moved into your own room in a couple hours."

"But he's OK?"

Elliot looked at her again. "Have they talked to you about it much yet?"

She nodded. "I just feel so foggy. I'm not sure. They said he's OK. But he's in NICU? But he's OK?"

Elliot gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, Liv. He's OK." He gripped her hand. "Listen, I think he's going to have to spend a few days here, though. He's pre-term. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "But he's OK?"

He nodded. "Olivia, I just don't want you to be shocked when they bring him over. He's in an oxygen tent right now and they have him under a warmer and an IV in him."

She shook her head. "Why?"

She just seemed so spacey. She was still coming out of the effects of surgery and he knew they'd likely given her some drugs to help with the pain as well. He wasn't sure what they would've given her when she'd be trying to breastfeed the baby soon – but it must've been something. He wasn't sure how much success she'd have with feeding the baby anyways and maybe they'd weighed that into their decision of what to give her. Preemies usually had trouble latching on. They were already giving him hydration and nutrients by IV because they weren't expecting him to be able to nurse on his own.

He didn't want to tell her that, though – or that based on his understanding, she likely wouldn't have success breastfeeding her baby at all. Noah was likely going to need to be IV and syringe feed for the next several days or weeks – until he eventually learned up to latch onto a bottle. When he gained some strength and didn't tire as easily. But how do you get a baby to grow, put on weight and thrive – when getting him to nurse is such a struggle? He knew it was going to be an extra hurdle for his partner to mount with the baby. He'd let the nursing staff get into that with her, though. It wasn't his place and she wasn't there enough yet to have any sort of discussion about it right then anyways.

"Liv, the baby's lungs mature in the last several weeks of pregnancy, right? So Noah didn't have a chance to do that. So he needs some extra help right now."

"But he was breathing," she said. "He was crying. I heard him. I held him. He was fine."

He nodded. "Yeah, he's breathing on his own, Liv. He's just struggling a little bit so they're just giving him some extra help right now."

"But they're bringing him over, right? So I can hold him? I need to feed him," she said. It sounded like she was starting to get wound up.

He sighed. "Liv, the nurse told me that he has to stay in the oxygen tent until he's able to breath room air without any difficulty. But you're going to be able to touch him and hold his hand and be with him – soon."

"So how long will he be in the tent then?" She asked.

He squeezed her hand again. "They didn't really say."

"How am I going to feed him then?"

He pulled the chair a bit closer to her bed and looked at her. "Liv, that's what the IV is for. They are getting him hydrated that way and getting him the nutrients he needs."

She shook her head. "But I need to feed him," she said, sounding confused.

He gave her a weak smile. "You can't right now, Liv. But they are making sure he gets everything he needs. They're taking really good care of him."

Suddenly her face started to look paler. "He's alone, right now? El, you left him alone?"

He'd gone with the nurses when the baby had been taken away from her – no more than 10 minutes after he'd been born, if even that. He'd been told he needed to leave the OR at that point anyways – but Liv had almost gone into a panic when they'd taken the baby off her chest to get him checked out and under the warmer. So he'd promised to stay with him – and had.

"He's with the nurses, Olivia. And Cragen is standing right outside the door making sure they're taking real good care of him."

Her jaw dropped a bit and she started shaking her head. "El, you didn't."

"You were going to have to tell him anyways. He cares about you. He's just checking in to make sure you're OK. He's staying with Noah while I come over here and talk to you."

"Now everyone knows," she sounded embarrassed.

He smiled. "Liv, everyone was going to know you had the baby anyways. Everyone wants to know. I think Munch won the baby pool. He's going to want his money and beer."

She sighed and looked at the ceiling.

"How much longer do I have to stay here? When can I go to my own room and have them bring over Noah?"

"Your attending nurse told me when I came in that you'd be in here with them monitoring you for at least a couple more hours. Maybe you should try to sleep," he suggested gently.

"I just want to see Noah," she said sadly.

"I know, but it's still going to be a little while before they're able to bring him over – and they can't have him in here. You aren't going to get many more opportunities for uninterrupted sleep for the next several months – you might as well try to take advantage of it."

She gave him a weak smile – and looked away.

"Thanks for staying, El," she said very quietly.

"Hey, what are friends for, if not delivering each other's babies, right?"

She made a small snort and looked at him.

"I'll go back down to NICU," he told her. "I just wanted to check on you. You want me to send Cragen up to sit with you for a while?"

She shook her head. "I don't want him to see me like this. You seeing me like this is bad enough."

"It's horrible. Who would've imagined that a pregnant woman would be laid up after giving birth?"

She gave him a pretty weak glare. "You know what I mean."

He gave her hand another squeeze. "OK. Rest. I'll be back with another update on the big man in a while."