Author's note: I am so sorry for the long update break between this chapter and the last one. I have not really felt up to writing much. I've been having major headache problems, and I am still trying to figure out how to recover the other chapters. But, since that does not seem likely at this point, I will have to go off of memory alone. Thank you to everyone for the awesome continued support on this story, and for me as an author. It is awesome and makes me smile whenever I get an alert that someone has reviewed, or even read the latest chapters. So thank you for that. Please enjoy this next chapter. It's a bit short, but only because something huge is in the works for the next few chapters. I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks. Don't be afraid to tell me. Thank you for reading.
Casey was sitting in bed, trying to relax. It had been a rather long and stressful day, with one failed experiment after the other. And that wasn't even counting the incident with her coffee. Her shirt would probably never recover, even with the most expensive dry cleaning bill. She had just finished researching something that had been bothering her about her father's actions when the bedroom door opened, and Olivia entered.
"I'm glad you're home," Olivia said, walking over to Casey's side of the bed and handing her a cup of coffee. By the markings on the cup, Casey could see that it was her favorite caramel mocha drink from the coffee shop by the precinct.
"I'm not the one who is never home," Casey pointed out, the observation coming across much more snippily than she had intended.
Olivia sighed, her own coffee in hand as she returned to her side of the bed and flopped onto it. "I know," she murmured, surprising Casey with the confession. "I knew that we needed to talk."
"Talk?" Casey repeated, tracing the rim of her coffee cup carefully. By the warmth against her hand, she knew she would lose her tastebuds for a week if she ventured to take a sip of the boiling liquid within. "What do we need to talk about?"
Olivia was silent for a long time. Finally, she turned to Casey and smiled softly, as if hoping it would lessen the burden of the news. "I haven't been completely honest with you, Casey," she said, and Casey could see by the look in the older woman's eyes that she was trying to decide how best to feel out the situation. Before Casey could ask her to continue, Olivia exhaled sharply and looked her squarely in the eyes. "I have left you under the impression that I have not yet heard about the results of the lieutenant's exam," she finally said.
"Olivia, what is your point?" Casey questioned. "You're beating around the bush, and it's making me nervous!"
"I know," the brunette murmured, brushing a stray scarlet curl out of Casey's eyes. "Believe me, it is not my intention to do so. However, I will not lie to you anymore. I do have the results of the lieutenant's exam. I passed it."
Casey sat up so quickly that her coffee and her laptop nearly fell off of the bed. "You did? Olivia, that's great!" She leaned over and kissed her girlfriend softly, pulling back with a smile. "I'm so happy for you. I knew you would succeed."
Olivia returned the kiss with about half of her usual passion, and Casey took the hint to pull away. "And they let me choose my command, even after I had told them about us. Of course I chose SVU."
"Olivia, call me crazy, but I still don't understand what is so bad about all of this. It's amazing that you got your promotion. Why were you so hesitant to tell me? Clearly, you told your bosses about us and they knew that you were getting promoted. They promoted you despite our relationship, as they should. So what is the problem, here?"
"You complain about my work hours now," Olivia answered. "And I didn't want you to know that they are bringing in the boss's son as my number two. That was my major concern. I don't want you to feel as if we are being spied on."
Casey sighed, tucking her legs beneath her and meeting Olivia's gaze again. "It will feel like that at first," she murmured. "But it sounds as if they hired him long before we disclosed. And if he is being brought in as a spy, he will quickly be bored, because we won't give him anything to spy on."
"When did you become the voice of reason in this relationship?"
Casey smirked. "I've been the voice of reason since day one," she joked. But, regaining her seriousness, she shook her head, folding her arms across her chest as a fresh wave of curiosity crashed over her. "Olivia, you shouldn't have been worried about telling me. We promised that we are a couple. And that means telling each other everything, whether we are afraid of each other's reactions or not. I know that you have gotten used to a life on your own. You've gotten so used to only taking care of yourself and living life as a single person. You've never had to report to anyone, and I fully understand how difficult that is for you. But, by that token, if this is going to work, despite our jobs, despite the horrors we see on a daily basis, you have to be honest with me. You can't be a player anymore, Olivia. You can't go through life alone. You have me to take care of now." Casey took Olivia's hand and gently brought it to her stomach. "You have us to take care of now," she murmured.