Well, here we are at the end of this story. I've spent three months getting this story down on paper (well computer) and it feels like time has flown by. This story has become a part of my day to day life...thinking about it, planning it out, trying to tell the story in the best possible way. I will miss it and the experience of learning so much on this site. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it, and especially to those who read, reviewed, PMed, etc. Your support means the world to me. I hope you enjoy these last two chapters.

Olivia was propped up in bed, holding the baby close to her and she could hardly bear to take her eyes off of her long enough to look up and see who had opened the door to her hospital room. She smiled, when Elliot wheeled himself in, no nurse in sight. "Hey…" she said softly. "They let you come up here?"

"They didn't let me do anything," he teased. "They knew there was no way in hell they'd keep me down there while you two are up here." He wheeled himself closer to the bed, looking in awe at the tiny bundle in Olivia's arms. She was dressed, in a light pink sleeper that was a little too big, hanging limp at her feet. Her skin was like porcelain, void of the typical red blotches and purple hues that plagued most newborns, and her dark lashes rested softly against her pale skin. Her tiny pink tongue peeked out between her small thin lips and her dark hair curled out from under her little white cap. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "I can't believe she's here," he reached out and ran his finger along her cheek. "I can't believe she's ours."

"We made her," she smiled. "It feels unreal." She shook her head, "God…we did this, El…this little person, she's part of us."

"I know," he smiled. "More you than me…from the looks of things," he laughed. "Thank God."

"Did they do your tests this morning?" She asked, knowing he was avoiding telling her. After she'd fallen asleep the night before, she woke up to find Elliot gone and the baby asleep in her isolette. The nurse had told her that they'd insisted Elliot go back to his own room to rest up for tests in the morning, and since she hadn't seen him before now, she assumed he'd been held up with the testing. "What did they say?"

"The doctor said I'm fine," he promised. "He wants to keep me for a few more days, try some seizure medication to see if that helps with the headaches and dizziness. He doesn't want me walking right now, until they think they have my shaking under control…they think the seizure triggered this…" he raised his hand, showing her the tremors he couldn't control.

"But you're going to be alright?" she asked. "They think everything will be fine, right?"

"Yeah, Liv," he smiled. "I'll be fine." He didn't know what else to say. The doctors didn't have any real answers. It was all wait and see. But he knew he would do all he could to be fine, for her and Ella and Noah. He had to. "What about you?" he asked. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Sore," Olivia admitted. "But happy…" she looked down at her daughter and smiled. "Maureen brought my bag so I changed into my own nightgown and dressed Ella…she's so tiny, her newborn sized clothes are still too big."

"How much does she weigh?" he asked, disappointed that he'd missed the nurse bringing her back the night before. "Six pounds?"

Olivia nodded, "Almost…five pounds, fourteen ounces," she smiled. "Nineteen inches long." She looked more serious, "The pediatrician was here…a while ago. I wanted him to wait for you, but he said he was in a hurry…"

"What did he say?" he asked nervously. "Is she okay? The doctor said she looked healthy last night…"

"Her heart looks good," Olivia glanced back at the baby. "She has a good heartbeat and the doctor is convinced she doesn't have a heart abnormality."

"That's great…thank God," he knew it was Olivia's biggest fear, and he didn't want to think of his daughter going through surgery.

"Her hearing test wasn't as good," Olivia admitted. "They put a tiny sensor in her ear, and recorded the ear response and there wasn't much of one. So they did a different test, where they monitored her brain waves in response to sound…" she shook her head, tearfully, "She didn't pass that one either."

"She's deaf?" he asked, having known all along that it was a possibility didn't keep him from feeling shocked by the news.

"No…they don't think she's completely deaf," Olivia said. "But they think she has some significant hearing loss. They want us to take her to a specialist for a follow-up screening and if she still doesn't pass the test they'll decide about hearing devices…"

"But she's so little," Elliot looked at his daughter. "Isn't she too little for a hearing aide?"

"The doctor said the earlier the better," Olivia stroked her daughter's cheek. "Babies start to build a foundation for language really early, and if she can't hear…" she sighed, "She has to hear sounds before she can learn to talk…and speech is already going to be hard for her. Her tongue is bigger than her mouth, and he said that's normal with Down syndrome, but it means speech therapy down the road."

"Liv…we're gonna get her whatever help she needs," he promised.

"I know that," she smiled. "I know…we're lucky El. The heart issue was the biggest concern, and her heart is fine. She's going to be okay."

"Anything else I should know?" he asked, cursing himself for not being there for his wife while the doctor bombarded her with all of this news about their little girl's health. She shouldn't have had to go through that alone.

"Her muscles are weak," Olivia said, raising the little girl's hand and kissing it softly. "If she's laying on her back, she kicks her legs and moves her arms some, but when you hold her, she just kind of goes limp in your arms. It scared me at first, but he said it was normal. She needs physical therapy. And when I tried to nurse her, she wouldn't latch on…her sucking reflex isn't very strong…"

"Liv…I'm sorry," he sighed. "I know you wanted to nurse her."

"They said we can keep trying, but for now they had me pump for her, and then try feeding her with a bottle. She did a little better that way, but she still couldn't suck very well. So they had me push her chin up and down and eventually she took some of the milk from the bottle," she smiled. "She can swallow just fine, so that's good. Then she fell asleep. The doctor said some babies with Downs don't even wake up to be fed. He said I might have to wake her up to feed her."

"Did they give you a list of things to look for? Things we need to do to keep her safe?" Elliot asked. He was afraid of messing up, of not meeting her needs.

"The doctor gave me a pamphlet, but El…she's my baby," Olivia smiled. "I don't need a list to remind me of how to care for her. Trust me…I haven't forgotten one thing the doctor told me." She looked at him, "Do you want to hold her?"

"God, I want to…" he sighed, "But I can't, Liv. I'm not steady enough yet. I don't want to drop her."

"Okay," she nodded. "Maybe later."

There was a knock at the door, and they both turned to see Maureen standing there, "Hey…do you feel like visitors?" she asked.

"Of course," Olivia nodded, and Maureen opened the door wider as the rest of the Stabler kids piled into the room. "Come meet your sister," she said, and they all huddled around the bed. Maureen had seen the baby earlier when she brought Olivia's bag to her, but the others hadn't had the chance to see her yet. They had waited in the waiting room for her to arrive, but because of the tests they needed to perform they hadn't let anyone come in to see her.

"Olivia…" Richard gasped at the sight of the tiny baby, "She's so pretty…"

"Thanks, I think so too," she smiled. Then she looked at Noah, in Elizabeth's arms and smiled at her little boy, "Noah…this is Ella…your baby sister…"

He looked at her, "Mama…" he reached for her.

"Do you want to hold her?" Olivia asked Richard, and he nodded, reaching out for her. "Be really careful, keep her body steady…" she handed the baby to him and he held his little sister close. Then she reached for Noah and Elizabeth handed him to her carefully. "I missed you sweet boy," she kissed him and he giggled.

"How are you doing, Dad?" Maureen asked. When she'd come up earlier she'd tried to see him, but they told her he was having some tests done.

"I'm fine," he told her. "I'll be home soon."

"Can I hold the baby now?" Elizabeth asked, trying to pry the baby from Richard's arms.

"I'm still holding her," he argued, not wanting to give her up.

"It's my turn," Elizabeth insisted.

"Let her hold the baby," Elliot intervened. "You have plenty of time to hold her, both of you…she's not going anywhere."

"Where are Eli and Kate?" Olivia asked, noticing they weren't in the room.

"Mom took Eli to school and she offered to watch Kate today," Maureen told them. "She said she can bring Eli by later…if that's okay with you or I can bring him…if you'd rather she not come up here."

"Tell her she can come," Olivia smiled.

"She's waking up," Elizabeth grinned at her sister. "Hi Ella…" she looked at her dad, "She has blue eyes."

He nodded, "Yep…she's a Stabler."

"She might be hungry," Olivia reached for her. "I should see if the nurse will bring her bottle." She took the baby and buzzed for the nurse, then held the baby close to Noah who was still sitting on her bed. "Isn't she pretty, Noah?" she asked.

"Baby…" he giggled. "Noah's baby…"

Olivia laughed, "She belongs to all of us," she hugged her son close. "Can you give her kisses?" He leaned over, and kissed the baby on her nose, and she scrunched up her face at his wet touch.

"We should get going?" Maureen picked up Noah and took him to the other side of the bed to give Elliot a hug and kiss. "We'll be back later."

"Okay," Olivia nodded. "Thanks for coming to see her…for bringing Noah."

"She's perfect," Elizabeth smiled. "Absolutely perfect."

"She is…" Richard agreed. He looked at his father, "Congratulations," he smiled.

"Thanks," Elliot looked at his son, and was taken by surprise when Richard walked over to him and hugged him tight. "She's a lucky baby. She has a great dad."

A few hours later, Olivia was alone with the baby and eating her dinner when another knock turned her attention to the door. "Come in," she said and smiled when Cragen and Fin walked into the room. "Hey guys…" she said, "You just missed Nick and Amanda. They stopped by on their way back from interviewing a witness."

"You've probably had a ton of people in and out of here today," Don said as he sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"Just them…and the kids…and Elliot," she smiled. "They made him go back down to his room a while ago…completely against his will." She laughed and looked at her plate, "Do you mind if I keep eating? I'm starving…I haven't had real food in I don't know how long."

"Go ahead," Don looked at her and then at her plate, "You call that real food?"

"You would too if you'd been living on calorie shakes for months," Olivia put a bite of the mashed potatoes in her mouth and then looked at Fin who was standing over Ella's isolette, staring at the baby. "You can pick her up," she said.

"She's asleep," he said softly. "I don't want to wake her up."

"She sleeps all the time," Olivia told him. "The doctor said it's good for us to wake her up."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't want to bother her…"

"She's fourteen hours old, Fin," Olivia reminded him. "I don't think you're bothering her…I doubt she even knows what that means."

"Smart ass," he looked at her and then picked up the baby, holding her close.

"Hey…don't call me names in front of my kid," she laughed.

"Yeah…I think she heard way worse than that from you last night," Fin teased and Olivia almost told them about the baby's hearing, but decided not to. "Hey little Ella," he held her close. "I'm your Uncle Fin…you were giving your mama all sorts of trouble last night, huh?"

"How are you feeling?" Don asked her sincerely. "You look good."

"Please," Olivia sighed. "I'm fat…and I have gray bags under my eyes."

"You just had a baby," he reminded her.

"I feel pretty good," she sighed. "I look at Ella…and I can't believe she's mine. God…I love her."

He nodded, "She's pretty lovable all right." He stood up and walked over to Fin, reaching out to take the baby and smiling at her when Fin handed her to him, "Hey little one…" he looked at Olivia, "You sure do know how to make a beautiful baby, Liv."

"Thanks, but her daddy helped," she laughed, but then turned more serious. "I'm worried about Elliot," she admitted. "They did some tests today…and he said everything was fine…but…"

"You don't believe him?" Fin asked, sitting next to her.

"Would you?" she asked. "You know how he is."

He shrugged, "He doesn't want you to worry…but I think he's doing well considering all he's been through. He's gonna keep working at getting better."

"He had a seizure," Olivia sighed. "What if he keeps having them? His hands…he has tremors now that he didn't have before. What if every time he has a seizure it does more damage to his brain function?"

"You always get caught up in the 'what ifs', Liv," Fin reminded her. "For now, all you can do is have a little faith. Take the time to enjoy the here and now…"

Hours later, she lay in her bed with Ella sleeping soundly in the isolette beside her, and as tired as she was, Olivia couldn't sleep. She missed her son, she missed Elliot…they were keeping her an extra day to try to help Ella learn to feed more easily, and while she knew it was necessary, she wanted to go home. She stood up slowly from the bed, and walked to the bathroom. In spite of how swollen her stomach still looked, she felt so much lighter and the ability to catch her breath was a gift. When she came out of the bathroom, she stood over her daughter's bed and watched her sleep. Her eye lashes fluttered against her pale skin and her eyes twitched beneath her eyelids. "Ella…" she patted her tummy and smiled when the baby kicked her legs in response to her touch. "Ella…wake up for Mommy," she whispered, disappointed that the baby didn't seem to want to wake up. Then she picked up the baby girl and sat with her in the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

She rocked her back and forth, humming a song she wasn't sure she remembered hearing before, and realizing the baby probably couldn't hear her anyway. She put her mouth on the baby's cheek and hummed again, hoping the vibration would let her daughter know she was there. Suddenly she remembered the song, and she could picture herself, not more than three years old, cuddled in her mother's arms while she sang to her. It was the first time she'd remembered something so normal, so kind, so motherly about her mom that it made her cry and when her salty tear dropped onto Ella's cheek the baby opened her eyes and looked at her, her small almond-shaped eyes staring straight at her. "Hi…" Olivia cried, tears pooling in her own dark eyes as she stared into her daughter's crisp blue ones. The baby looked like she might fuss, but she didn't. She simply scrunched up her face and made a soft sound as she opened and closed her mouth a few times. Olivia remembered the doctor telling her it was sign that the baby was hungry, and it was the first time Ella had ever let her know that. "Should we try nursing again?" She whispered, not wanting to interrupt their time together by calling the nurse for her bottle if she didn't have to. She unbuttoned her nightgown, looking down at the scars on her chest, ashamed that he daughter would be faced with such ugliness for the first year or more of her life. She looked at her baby, holding her close to her and praying she would latch on this time. She put her finger on the baby's chin, moving it up and down to stimulate the sucking movement and finally Ella seemed to realize what needed to be done and latched on. "Good girl…" Olivia whispered. "You're Mommy's good girl, Ella." The scars didn't matter to her baby, and for the first time she realized they didn't truly matter to anyone. They didn't define her as a woman, this little girl did. "I love you, sweet girl," she whispered. After a few minutes, the baby seemed to lose interest in eating and drifted back to sleep. "That was a good start, anyway," Olivia kissed her daughter softly on the cheek. She was so overcome with emotion, all she could do was hold her close and cry.