Miracle chapter 3
Olivia walked into the 1-6 one of the few ways that she never thought she would. Jacob was in one arm, cooing and waving a tiny fist back and forth. The diaper bag was slung over the same shoulder and bounced against her hip with every step she took. Maggie clung to her other hand and sucked desperately on the first three fingers of her right hand. Brian held on to the strap of the diaper bag and looked around nervously.
When Olivia paused outside the door, Elliot rested a hand on her back in silent support. She pushed through the door and as she walked in, Fin looked up and gave his characteristic smirk. "Well look who finally showed…" he trailed off, staring at the children. "Mama Olivia," he said softly. "What's this?"
Under Fin's intense stare, Maggie turned and hid her face in Olivia's leg. "He's scary," she whispered.
Olivia crouched down and ran a hand over Maggie's blonde curls. "You don't need to be scared, Maggie. This is where I work and all of the men here are police officers like Elliot and me. They want to help you."
"Want up," Maggie whispered.
Elliot bent and tried to pick Maggie up but she began to squirm. "Livvy, I want Livvy," she started to cry.
"Take Jacob," Olivia said, shifting the baby to Elliot's arms before picking Maggie up. "Sh, I'm right here, honey."
Captain Cragen heard the cries of a child and stuck his head out of his office to see what was going on. The sight that met his eyes was not one that he had expected. "Benson, Stabler, in my office."
The detectives exchanged looks and walked towards their captain's office, dropping the Walmart bags next to Olivia's desk as they went. Once they were inside Cragen shut the door and gestured to the chairs. Olivia sat in one with Maggie on her lap while Elliot held Jacob and Brian sat next to him. When they were settled, Cragen took his own seat and grabbed a Twizzler from the ever-present jar on his desk. He paused before offering one to Brian, who shook his head silently. "What's your name?" Cragen asked.
"Brian."
"What's your last name, Brian?"
"Allen. That's my sister Maggie and my brother Jacob."
"Bri, this is Captain Cragen, my boss," Olivia explained.
"Where's your mom, Brian?" Cragen asked kindly.
Brian shrugged. "Work, I think."
Cragen nodded and turned to Olivia. "Explain?" he asked.
By the time Olivia finished the story, Cragen was pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Elliot had shifted so he could rest a hand on Brian's shoulder in support and Maggie had cuddled into Olivia, sucking on her fingers and clutching her doll with her other hand.
"What do you mean, Maggie is it?, was sexually abused," Cragen asked at length.
Olivia sighed and wrapped her arms around Maggie, unconsciously trying to protect her. "Her mother forced her to give oral sex to at least one man."
Cragen nodded and turned to Brian. "Does your mom leave you home alone a lot?"
Brian nodded. "She doesn't like us," he said softly. "I take care of Maggie and Jacob."
"Where's your dad?"
"We don't have one," Brian answered.
Elliot squeezed Brian's shoulder gently. "Bri, where do you live?"
Brian gave an address and Elliot shuddered to himself. It was a rough neighborhood.
Cragen nodded, working it out in his head. "I'm going to call DCFS," he paused at the flash of pain in Olivia's eyes but forced himself to continue. "Until then the kids can stay here. Olivia, go get cleaned up. I want you and Elliot to go to the apartment, I'll have Munch and Fin canvas the neighborhood."
"If no one's home, we'll need a warrant," Elliot pointed out.
"I'll call Casey."
"Cap," Olivia spoke up worriedly. "What about Brian, Maggie, and Jacob? Someone needs to watch them."
"They'll stay here with me. It's not right to make them go back there."
Olivia nodded and, feeling that they were dismissed, she and Elliot began leading the children out of the office. Elliot and Jacob went first, followed by Brian. In the doorway, Olivia paused and turned back. "Cap? Can you not let DCFS take them until I get back?"
Cragen smiled. "I'll try."
When Olivia set Maggie in her chair, Munch looked over with raised eyebrows. He'd been getting coffee when Olivia and Elliot first arrived and Fin had only taunted that he wouldn't believe what they'd brought in with them. "Nice outfit," Munch teased Olivia. "Get lost on the way to the gym?"
"Shut it, John," Olivia returned with a roll of her eyes.
"Who do we have here?" Munch, glancing around at the children. He'd never had much experience with kids, not having any of his own.
"Cragen will tell you the story, but this is Maggie, Brian, and the baby is Jacob," Olivia crouched down so she was eye level with Maggie. "I'm going to go take a quick shower so you need to stay here with Brian and Elliot, okay Maggie?"
"Can I come with you?"
Olivia shook her head. "I'm sorry honey, you need to stay here."
"Will you come back?"
"Yes, I'll come back in a little while." Olivia paused. "But after I come back, Elliot and I are going to see if we can find your mom."
"I don't want you to find our mom," Brian spoke up softly and Olivia jumped. She hadn't realized he was behind her.
"Why not?" Olivia asked, wrapping an arm around Brian's waist.
"I don't want to live with her, I want to live with you, Olivia. You don't hit or yell and you're nice. Maggie likes you and you don't get mad when Jacob cries."
Tears filled Olivia's eyes as she pulled Brian into a hug. "Oh, baby," she whispered. "I promise that I'm going to do everything I can to keep you and Maggie and Jacob safe. I'm not going to let you go back to your mom, Bri. I won't let her hurt you again."
As Elliot watched, his stomach clenched. He knew Olivia as well as he knew himself. He knew the demons she fought, what the little looks she gave meant, her fears. And right then, Elliot knew that Olivia loved Brian, Maggie, and Jacob. More than that, Elliot knew that when she had to give the kids over to DCFS, it would break her heart.
Olivia held Brian until he pulled back, and then smiled at him. "I'll be right back. Elliot's here though." She grabbed the duffel bag that Elliot had filled with her clothes and hurried to the showers. She took the fastest shower she'd ever taken. Within 45 minutes she was dressed, ready, back in the office, and very impressed that Elliot hadn't forgotten anything, not even her belt. Maggie was still sitting in the exact same spot that Olivia had left her, except she was coloring. Brian was sitting with Elliot at Elliot's computer, probably playing a game. She looked around quickly. Her mental count of the kids had turned up one short.
"Where's Jacob?" she asked, worry thick in her voice.
Elliot smiled and nodded towards the window. Olivia looked over and laughed slightly. Munch was holding Jacob, rocking back and forth rather awkwardly and talking softly. Deciding that the baby was fine, Olivia turned back to the desks. "Did Cragen get the search warrant?"
"Yep," Elliot stood up. "You can keep playing as long as you want, Brian. Olivia and I will be back in…a little while."
Cragen walked out of his office and looked at his detectives. "Everyone ready?"
Fin stood up, grabbing his coat. "Ready and waiting."
Munch walked back and Olivia took Jacob from him. "Bye, Jacob," she whispered. "Be good and I'll be back soon." Jacob grasped her finger in his tiny fist. Without thinking, Olivia brought the fist to her lips and kissed it gently.
"Olivia, we need to go," Elliot said softly, resting a hand between her shoulder blades.
"I know," Olivia said with a sigh. She kissed the top of Jacob's head before handing him to Cragen. "There are two full bottles in the diaper bag and an empty one too, if you need it. There's extra formula in the bag by my desk. Oh, diapers are…"
"Olivia, go," Cragen said with a slight laugh. "I have two children, I can handle this."
"Oh, Maggie doesn't like men, so if she wants to stay with Brian that's fine. And make sure they drink water and have some kind of healthy snack. No soda."
Cragen shot Elliot a look and Elliot nodded. He took Olivia's arm and began pulling her towards the door. Olivia yanked her arm back and walked over to Brian. "Are you going to be okay while Elliot and I are gone?"
Brian nodded and stood up. "Are you going to my house?"
"Yep. We need to try to find your mom."
"Be careful," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Mom will be mad and when she gets mad she hits really hard."
Olivia hugged him tightly. "Your mom won't hurt me, I promise."
Brian hugged her one last time before returning to the computer. Olivia crouched down in front of Maggie. "Sweetie, Elliot and I have to go now. We'll be back around lunch, okay? Captain Cragen is going to take good care of you."
"Do you have to go Livvy?" Maggie asked, wrapping her arms around Olivia's neck.
"I promise to come back as soon as I can," Olivia said, hugging Maggie back. "And when I come back I'll color with you, okay?"
"Okay." Maggie let go and turned back to her coloring.
Olivia turned to Elliot. "Okay, I'm ready now."
Once they were in the car, Elliot started driving towards the apartment. After a few blocks, he looked sideways at his partner. "Are you sure you want to do this, Liv?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?"
"Look, I'm not blind or stupid. You care about those kids, as more than just another set of victims."
"You didn't see them sitting there, Elliot. They were all alone in Central Park. It's a miracle they weren't attacked. Or worse."
"I know, Liv." Elliot reached over and linked his fingers with hers. "It's a miracle you found them."
Olivia smiled slightly as they pulled up to the apartment building. They walked up four flights of stairs and stopped outside 4F. Olivia knocked on the door. "Regan Allen? NYPD." She paused for a minute, listening. She didn't hear anything and glanced at Elliot. Elliot rammed his shoulder into the door and it flew open. As they stepped into the apartment, Olivia gasped, and then choked.
"It reeks in here," Elliot grumbled.
Olivia recognized the smell right away. Cigarette smoke, rum, and rotting trash permeated the room. "Let's see if we can find anyone."
The search of the apartment didn't take long, it consisted of one bedroom where they found a stash of pot, several empty alcohol bottles, filth the likes of which was usually only found in dumpsters, a living room/kitchen which looked like it hadn't been cleaned at any time in recent memory, and a bathroom that Olivia was fairly certain should have been condemned by the health board.
"Let's get CSU in here to dust for prints. Maybe the guy who assaulted Maggie left his prints," Elliot said.
Olivia nodded. "I'm going to call Fin and Munch and see if they've found anyone who knows the kids or where their mother might be."
Elliot and Olivia hung up their phones at the same time. "CSU will be here in fifteen minutes. Have Fin and Munch had any luck?" Elliot asked.
"Nope. There's a school a few blocks from here, PS 214. Brian probably went there."
"Let's check it out."
Olivia and Elliot walked into PS 214's office. The secretary looked up from her desk.
"May I help you?" she asked.
"Yes, we're detectives Benson and Stabler from the SVU, we'd like to speak to the principal?" Olivia said, holding out her badge.
"Of course." The secretary stood and hurried out of the office. A few minutes later she returned with a small woman in a black suit.
"Detectives? My name is Chantel Williams. How may I help you?" she said with a slight smile.
"Ms. Williams, we're here investigating a case involving a child who we believe goes to your school."
Ms. Williams's brows furrowed. "One of my students? What happened?!"
"Do you have a Brian Allen in one of your third grade classes?" Olivia asked.
"We used to," Ms. Williams said. "His family moved to Georgia over Christmas break."
"Is this him?" Elliot asked, holding out a picture of Brian that they'd taken at the station.
"Yes, that's him."
"Can you tell us about him?"
Ms. Williams smiled. "He was such a sweet boy. He wasn't in ever in any trouble. We were sad to see him go. But what does Brian have to do with one of your cases? He wasn't hurt was he?"
"Brian and his younger sister and brother were found this morning in Central Park," Elliot said.
"Oh my God, they're not dead are they?!" Ms. Williams gasped.
"No, I was the one who found them," Olivia answered. "We're trying to find their mother and the apartment wasn't far from here. Could we speak to his teacher, please?"
"Of course, he had Ms. Dillon."
Ms. Williams led Elliot and Olivia to the second floor and knocked on the door of the corner room, motioning for the teacher to join them.
"Ms. Dillon, this is Detective Stabler and Detective Benson. They're here about Brian Allen."
"Do you have a few minutes?" Elliot asked.
"We go to music in ten minutes," Ms. Dillon said nervously.
"I'll take them," Ms. Williams volunteered.
When they were alone in the hallway, Ms. Dillon looked from Olivia to Elliot. "You wanted to know about Brian? He was a great kid. Sweet, smart, he looked out for the younger kids on the playground and never made any trouble."
"We have reason to believe that Brian was being abused," Elliot said, not voicing his thought that Brian probably hadn't made trouble at school because he had enough of it at home.
Ms. Dillon sighed sadly. "I had my suspicions. Brian used to come to school with bruises but when I asked, he always said that he fell. I tried to get him to talk to a social worker but he refused. Is Brian safe?"
Olivia nodded. "He is now. We're trying to find his mother."
"I wish I could help more," Ms. Dillon said.
"We'll be sure to let you know if we need anything else," Elliot said because Olivia had gone quiet. "Oh, did you ever meet Brian's mother?"
Ms. Dillon sighed. "Regan Allen. I only met her once. She came to a conference, only after I called about twenty times. It was at 3:45 in the afternoon ad she was hung over. She reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. She was pregnant at the time and I remember being worried."
"Worried?" Elliot asked.
"I was afraid that she'd either kill the baby or give it FEA."
"Fetal Alcohol Syndrome," Olivia said softly. "He doesn't. He was lucky."
Back in the car, Elliot turned to his partner. "Liv? You got awfully quiet in there."
"I'm okay," she said, staring straight ahead.
Elliot reached over and turned her chin so she was facing him. "Talk to me."
"He's just a little boy, Elliot. He should be playing soccer and teasing his little sister. Not living in that shit hole trying to make sure that he and Maggie and Jacob don't starve or get beaten or…or raped." Tears streamed down Olivia's face and without a word Elliot leaned over, wrapping his arms around her and held her.
Elliot could feel her tears wetting his shirt as she clung to him. "He's okay now, Liv. He's going to get a chance at a normal childhood because of you. They all will."
Olivia sniffed and pulled away, wiping her eyes quickly. "I have to catch her, El. I need to make sure she won't ever get those kids back again."
"She won't," Elliot promised. "No judge would ever send them back there."
Olivia smiled slightly. "Thank you."
"No problem." Elliot turned on the car. "Where to now? You want to go back to the apartment?"
"No, it's almost noon. Let's get back to the station and bring the kids some lunch."
"Sounds like a plan. Can you call Fin and Munch, let them know what's going on?"
Olivia called Munch, and then turned to Elliot. "Could you not tell anyone that I…you know."
"Cried?"
"Yeah. They'd never let me live it down."
"Sure."
"Thanks."
As they drove, something that the principal said began to bother Elliot. "Ms. Williams said that Brian's family moved to Georgia over Christmas. What are they doing back in New York?"
"Brian said that Jacob was born on January 20. Maybe it has something to do with that."
Olivia and Elliot walked into the station half an hour later, laden down with bags from Panera. Olivia looked around, not seeing the kids until Cragen's door flew open and Maggie raced out, heading straight for Olivia.
"Livvy, Livvy! You came back!"
Elliot laughed as Maggie wrapped her arms around Olivia's legs. Olivia handed her bag to Elliot and crouched down, wrapping her arms around Maggie. "I promised I would," Olivia said. "Elliot and I brought lunch, where are your brothers?"
Maggie pointed towards Cragen's office. "In there. Hi, Elliot."
Elliot grinned. "Hey Maggie." It wasn't much, but it was a start.
"Did you guys have fun with Captain Cragen?" Olivia asked as they began walking toward Cragen's office.
"You're more fun," Maggie answered. "I misseded you."
"I missed you too, Maggie." Olivia and Elliot entered Cragen's office to find a rather harried looking Captain. Jacob was crying, his sobs bouncing off the walls of the small office.
"Have fun?" Elliot asked with a smirk.
"Jacob likes you guys better," Brian said as he stood up from Cragen's computer.
"He kept crying," Cragen said, looking exhausted.
"Come here big guy," Elliot said, putting the bags down and taking the baby from Cragen. The baby started to calm down immediately. "How were the other kids?"
"Brian took care of Jacob most of the time and Maggie just stared out the window, waiting for you to get back."
"Are you guys hungry?" Olivia asked as she grabbed the Panera bags and balanced them and Maggie. "We brought lunch." She smiled at Cragen. "And to thank you for baby-sitting, we got you a sandwich and soup."
"Thanks."
They went back to Olivia and Elliot's desks and separated the food. Brian took a bite of his turkey sandwich before looking at Olivia. "Did you find my mom?"
"Sorry Bri. But we went to your school. How come you don't go to school anymore?"
"Mom said that I couldn't go to school after Christmas because I had to take care of Maggie and Jacob. But I had to tell everyone that we were moving. Am I going to be in trouble for lying?"
"No, of course not," Elliot said, ruffling the boy's hair gently.
Maggie tugged on Olivia's arm. "Livvy, I hafta go."
Olivia's brow furrowed. "Go?"
"To the potty," Maggie said, rather insistently.
"Oh," Olivia said, understanding lighting her eyes. "I'll take you. Elliot?"
"I'll hold down the fort here," he assured her with a smile.
Maggie slid off Olivia's lap and Olivia led her to the bathroom. "Do you need help?" Olivia asked, not sure at what age children could handle that task themselves.
"Nuh-uh. I can do it."
"Okay, I'll wait right out here."
Maggie walked into the stall and Olivia waited patiently. When Maggie emerged she looked up at Olivia shyly. "I can't do the button."
Olivia looked at her, confused, and crouched down. "What do you mean, honey? What button?"
Maggie pointed to the button of her jeans, which Olivia quickly fastened. "Let's get your hands washed and we can go finish our lunch."
Olivia lifted Maggie and turned on the water, testing the temperature. Maggie was playing with the soap on her hands when she asked, "Do we have to go home later?"
Olivia rinsed Maggie's hands and dried them before she sat Maggie on the edge of the sink. "No, you're not going back home. You and Brian and Jacob are going to stay with something called a foster family. They're going to take care of you and keep you safe."
"Do they hit?"
"They shouldn't," Olivia answered. She knew that sometimes the foster care system didn't protect the children in their care as well as they should have. But she was going to do everything in her power to make sure they were safe. "I'm going to give Brian a card with my phone number on it and if anyone hurts you, Brian can call me and I'll come get you, okay?"
Maggie nodded. "Can I have one too?"
"A card?" Maggie nodded and Olivia smiled, lifting her off the sink. "Sure. Do you know how to use a telephone?" she asked as they walked back to Olivia's desk.
"No."
"That's okay, we'll practice. Do you know your numbers?"
"Uh-huh."
The group finished lunch and Olivia began to feed Jacob. Cragen had told her and Elliot that the most important thing they could do was to take care of the kids until DCFS showed up.
In an effort to teach Maggie how to use a telephone, Olivia wrote the number for Elliot's private line on a piece of paper and explained that Maggie needed to match the numbers. Maggie hit the buttons carefully and held the phone to her ear.
Elliot answered the phone as Brian played Spider Solitaire on the computer. "Hello?" he said with a smile, knowing it was Maggie. Maggie giggled and Elliot could hear Olivia coaching her to say hello.
"Hi Elliot," Maggie giggled.
"Hi Maggie," he answered. "How are you?"
"Good. K, bye!"
Olivia helped Maggie hang up the phone and her eyes met Elliot's, silent laughter passing between them. Maggie practiced a few more times until Olivia was fairly certain that she could dial a phone correctly. Maggie began playing with her doll, brushing her hair gently and humming to herself. Olivia held Jacob in her left arm so she could work on some paperwork left over from the day before. Following her lead, Elliot rolled up his shirtsleeves and started catching up also.
Brian looked up from the computer and stood, walking over next to Elliot and pointed to his tattoo. "Wow," he said softly. "Did it hurt?"
Elliot smiled and turned his arm so Brian could see the tattoo better. "When I got it, it hurt. Not anymore."
Maggie had watched the exchange and slid off Olivia's lap to investigate. She walked shyly over to Elliot and touched the tattoo gently with one finger. "What's that?"
Elliot grinned, happy that she apparently trusted him enough to go near him without clinging to Olivia. "It's called a tattoo. It's like this." Elliot took a pen out of his desk and instructed Maggie to make a fist. When she did, he drew a smiley face on the back of her hand.
Maggie grinned. "Livvy, look! I have a 'too!"
Olivia laughed. "It's beautiful, Maggie."
Maggie stared at Elliot's, tracing it with one finger. "Elliot, they forgot to color it," she said seriously.
Elliot laughed. "I guess they did. How about you color it in for me?" He pulled a pack of markers out of his desk drawer and offered them to the little girl. Maggie began working on carefully coloring in Elliot's Marine tattoo. Most of it was out of the lines, since she was so young. After a few minutes, Elliot's arm got tired of resting in the awkward position he had it. "Why don't you come sit on my lap?" he suggested carefully, not wanting to scare her. "Then you can reach it better."
Maggie thought about it for a second, and then slowly nodded. "Okay." Maggie let Elliot lift her onto his lap and leaned against him as she colored. Within ten minutes, Maggie was sound asleep in Elliot's arms, leaning back against his chest with the marker still clutched in her hand.
"Liv," Elliot whispered.
Olivia looked up and smiled. "Do you want me to take her?" she whispered back.
"No, I've got her."
Fin and Munch walked into the station house around 2:30. Olivia held a finger to her lips, indicating the two sleeping children. Brian was sitting in an empty chair, reading his book, even though he had to go to Olivia every couple paragraphs to ask her what a word meant.
"What did you find?" Olivia asked.
"Some neighbors said they heard Regan hitting the kids, a couple others said that she was prostitute who works out of Central Park. But she usually leaves the kids alone in the apartment," Fin said, disgust obvious in his voice.
"I wonder why she didn't two nights ago?" Elliot asked, turning to face his co-workers while being careful not to wake Maggie.
Munch shrugged. "One woman said that a man came to the apartment a lot. Apparently he fought with Regan three nights ago."
"Do we have a description?" Olivia asked, getting up to pace.
"No. She said that she heard the voices through the wall."
Olivia nodded. "Okay. So we have a prostitute who b-e-a-t-s her kids and leaves them alone…"
"Olivia?" Brian asked, tugging gently on her elbow. "I can spell."
Olivia laughed in spite of herself. "Sorry. The question is, who is the mystery man? Brian, do you know who the man is that comes to your house?"
Brian nodded but before he could speak Cragen came out of his office. "CSU just called," the captain said. "They lifted Regan's prints from the apartment, the kids', and you'll never guess who the other set came from. Raphael Zapata."
The detectives stared at him in shock. "You're kidding," Fin said finally.
Cragen shook his head. "I wish."
Olivia crouched to Brian's height. "Do you know who Raphael Zapata is?"
Brian nodded. "He's my mom's boss. He comes by sometimes. He's the man who hurt Maggie."
Elliot gathered the little girl closer. "Christ," he sighed. "Could this day get any better?"
In answer to his question, the station house door opened and Melinda Johnston, a DCFS caseworker they'd met before walked in. "Detectives. Are these the children who need a foster home?"
Olivia shifted so she was holding Jacob protectively against her chest and Cragen spoke up. "Yes."
"You put in a request for the children to be placed together?"
"That's right," Olivia spoke up. She was nervous and couldn't put her finger on why.
"Well, there's a problem with that. There are no openings in any of our homes for three children. So we'll either have to separate them or place them in a home."
"No," Olivia spoke up firmly. "They can't be separated."
"Olivia," Cragen said warningly.
"Look, Brian's spent most of his life taking care of his brother and sister. I'm not going to have them yanked apart because the system can't handle keeping a family together!" Olivia exclaimed, drawing Brian close to her side.
"Then we'll put them in a children's home and hope that something opens up," Melinda said smoothly.
"Over my dead body. They've been through hell and they deserve a real home!"
Melinda exhaled in frustration. "What do you want me to do Detective Benson?"
"I'll take them," Olivia said in that voice that said it was better not to argue.
"You're not licensed for foster care," Melinda pointed out.
"Then I'll apply for emergency certification."
"And why do you think that the children would be better off with you than in a state-approved facility?"
Olivia counted to ten silently so as not to snap. She made it to six before speaking. "Because I found them. They're already comfortable with me and trust me."
"You work a dangerous job with erratic hours. And you're single," Melinda said.
"If Olivia gets temporary custody, she'll have the rest of the week off to make arrangements for child care and for Brian to go to school," Cragen said. Despite the fact that his hours with the kids had been hectic, to say the least, he couldn't deny that Olivia seemed to have a special bond with them.
Melinda stared at the detectives. Elliot was holding the little girl close to him while Olivia held the baby and stood slightly in front of the other boy. The other detectives had looked like they'd agree with Olivia taking the children more than the other options. Melinda sighed. "I'll start putting the paperwork through now. The temporary license is only for three months though. If you want to keep them, you'll have to start on the paperwork soon."
"I'll start it tomorrow," Olivia said, smiling. "Thank you."
Melinda nodded. "Take care of them."
"I will," Olivia promised.
Melinda left and Elliot raised an eyebrow at his partner. "Liv, can I talk to you?"
Olivia nodded and transferred the sleeping baby into Fin's arms while Elliot set Maggie down in his chair. They walked into an interrogation room and Elliot closed the door. "Are you sure this is smart?" he asked.
"Elliot, I promised Brian that they could stay together. I promised to protect them and I can't do that if they're in separate homes or if they're in a group home."
"You've been planning to do this all along, haven't you?"
Olivia sighed and turned her back to her partner, drawing a ragged breath. "I don't know. Maybe part of me has. I can't let them get hurt again."
Elliot nodded and walked over to her, resting his hands on her shoulders. "I'll do whatever I can to help you then. I'll stop by the house after work and pick up some of the kids' old baby things that we don't use anymore. You don't have a crib, do you?"
Olivia gave him a look. "I've never needed one before." She paused before turning so she could look Elliot in the eye. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?"
Elliot grinned and nodded. "Yeah. I do."
They walked together back into the main room and Brian ran up to Olivia, looking hopeful. "Are we going home with you?"
"Yep," Olivia said with a grin. "How do you feel about that?"
Brian beamed. "I'm glad we're going with you."
"I'm glad too," Olivia said as she rested a hand on his head.
Cragen walked up to Olivia. "It's 3:00. Take the kids home now, get them settled. Take that paperwork home with you, you can fax it in tomorrow."
Olivia smiled. "Thank you. Thanks for the time off, too."
"When you come back, you better be ready to catch Zapata."
"My pleasure," Olivia said, a slightly evil glint in her eyes.
"Elliot," Cragen called. "You head out too, help Olivia with the kids."
"Are you sure?" Elliot asked. Not that he didn't want to go, he just wasn't sure that he should.
"Positive."
Olivia began gathering the things she'd bought that day and getting the kids together. She had the diaper bag over one shoulder and lifted Maggie into her arms. Elliot took Jacob back from Fin and grabbed the rest of the bags. As they walked out of the station house, Maggie woke up slightly.
"Where are we going?" she asked sleepily.
"We're going home," Olivia said with a smile.
"With you?" Maggie asked hopefully.
"Yep, with me."