Two weeks later

Monday

"Why can't anything go right?" Casey snapped at no one in particular. Her coffee machine blew up this morning, getting coffee all over her suit, which forced her to change and made her late for her meeting with her boss, who was sure to mention it to her. Sometimes she really hated Cutter. He's not exactly Mr. Timely.

Casey had been working through her lunch break when she heard a knock on her door.

"Open," she responded gruffly.

Alex came in with a gyro and some pita chips. "I hope this gets you in a better mood," Alex laughed as she shut the door.

Casey gasped. "How did you …"

"A little birdy told me you had a crappy morning, so I figured you could use a special delivery."

Alex put down the lunch in front of her and gave Casey a kiss. "Feeling better?"

"I am now!"

They shared a second kiss and a third one. Casey was about to forget the lunch when she heard someone knocking on her door.

Alex flew up as another ADA came in.

"Cutter wants to see you in his office again."

Cutter can choke on a dick! "I'll be right over."

Instead of going over there, however, she sat down and ate half of her sandwich.

Alex kissed her forehead. "Call me when you get home from work."

The three women took care of each other. Alex would make sure Casey ate, since she was notorious for working through lunch. Casey would make sure Olivia slept, since she would try to work all night, and Olivia kept Alex calm while she tried to wrangle in her ADAs.

The three women complimented each other nicely, and it showed.

Elliot asked Olivia, "What's gotten into you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look well rested. Cragen hasn't had to throw you out of here in a while, and you haven't blown up at anybody, even when it's well …"

"What?"

"Your time of the month," he whispered.

"How do you even …"

"We've been partners for seven years Liv. I notice when you get crabby on the same four days every month."

She rolled her eyes. "Things are going really well for me right now."

"As in you and Casey are having all the nookie or …"

"Something like that, not that it's any of your business."

"Come on. Kathy is barely talking to me right now, much less …"

"Sorry, you are not living vicariously through me and Casey."

"That's what imaginations are for," Munch told her with a smirk.

"Shut up you pervert," Fin retorted.

The best Elliot could do was to get Casey and Olivia to come out for drinks once they finished their case. Maybe they could pry out something good once she was drunk. He had not seen as much of her as he had before.

Olivia had been working late on Thursdays and working during the day on Saturdays, so she could afford to spend Friday evenings with Casey and Saturday nights with Alex, not to mention Sunday afternoons with both of them. Her ladies kept her busy.

After work, Alex went home and started to prepare tonight's dinner. She had made stew the night before and put it in the fridge, so the fat would rise to the top as it cooled. She skimmed the fat off and put the stew back on the stove.

Once it was warmed all the way through, it would be ready to serve. While the stew was being reheated, Casey called.

"Cabot."

"You know it's me."

"I do, but I know you like it when I'm authoritative."

"I do. I'm about to leave work now."

"Bring your appetite."

"Can you put on some coffee?"

"Of course."

Casey never did get her morning cup. She tried the shit in the vending machine and it was so gross she had to toss it.

Thirty minutes later, Alex was greeting Casey with a kiss. "Let me take your jacket."

Casey loved how polite Alex was, especially as a host. "Whatever you made, it smells amazing."

"It's beef bourbingon."

Casey used to wish she had paid attention when her mother tried to teach her how to cook. Fuck that, she had Alex.

Alex poured Casey a cup of coffee and fixed her a bowl of stew with a baguette for a starch.

Once Casey was able to sit and eat, she started to talk about her day.

"My damn coffee maker almost killed me."

Alex wondered, "How old was the coffeemaker?"

"I don't know, old."

"Like more than three years?"

"Probably nearing ten."

"No wonder it exploded. It's practically a fossil."

"Sorry I don't have a fancy barista machine."

"You spend a year drinking the swill in Wisconsin, and you'll wish you had a homicidal coffeemaker."

"I can't believe I made it all day without coffee."

"Perish the thought."

When Casey got to work the next day, she was surprised to see a new coffeemaker on her desk.

C

If this one explodes, it will only mess up your office and not your apartment.

A

Cute!

Alex also included some nice Turkish coffee. "Oh this is so tempting." Casey had already bought a cup of coffee for the morning, but this seemed way more appetizing.

Thirty minutes later, after Casey enjoyed a delicious cup of Turkish coffee, the redhead sauntered over to the Bureau Chief's office and greeted her with a loving kiss.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Alex grinned as she pulled Casey closer.

"A lovely angel gave me a new coffee maker."

"I can't have my girl without her coffee."

"I was so desperate, I went to Starbucks this morning."

"Ugh, McDonalds beat them in a taste test."

Casey hadn't thought much of coffee quality until Alex started spoiling her. She always had the best stuff in her apartment.

"When did you become a coffee aficionado?"

Alex shrugged. "I guess my parents always were, so I just started with high standards."

Alex had always been close to her parents. She looked to them both as role models, her father on how to shape her career (he was a no nonsense man) and her mother on how to care for other people (she always took care of everyone).

Neither Casey nor Olivia had that growing up. Sometimes, Casey was jealous, but then she was relieved. If Alex hadn't learned from her parents, she wouldn't be the amazing woman she was today.

"I wish I could stay here all day," she said as she sat on Alex's lap.

"Me too, but I need to deal with personnel issues." Peluso was back at work, but he did not have a sufficient excuse for his absences. Alex had to decide if she was going to recommend that McCoy let him go.

One more kiss and then Casey headed back to work.

Wednesday

Olivia had been working around the clock trying to catch a child molester who targeted kids in the park bathroom.

They had two suspects. One was a convicted sex offender who had been caught at the park, but he said he was there to pick up trash as his community service and that was actually true.

The other was a guy who had been caught taking up skirt photos of women in the 90s, but it wasn't a crime at the time so the police had let him go. He was also seen around the park on several days.

"I just want to make an arrest and go home," Olivia wasn't entirely sure that either suspect was the guy. They could be totally on the wrong trail and have no idea.

She and Stabler were running on coffee and adrenaline. They had been since Monday.

At the end of the evening, Casey arrived to take Olivia home.

"I still need to …"

"Sleep. You won't get anything done if you collapse on the job, and you haven't been home in two days."

Olivia's protests were not enough. Casey coaxed her into a cab and took Olivia to her place.

When Olivia got there, she saw that Casey had dinner on the stove. The ADA was not much of a cook. "What did you make?"

"Pork braised in milk, and don't worry, Alex practically held my hand every step of the way."

Casey had called the blonde, asking her what she could make that would be easy. This was the easiest recipe Alex knew. All you do is brown the meat on a skillet, stick it in a pot of milk with some herbs and spices and let it simmer."

Olivia tried a bite. It was surprisingly delicious. "This is so good."

Casey took a bite and agreed. Even she had been skeptical when she heard pork braised in milk or maiale latte, which is what Alex had called it. "I thought the warm milk might help you sleep tonight."

Olivia did need sleep. She wanted to lock away this perp and throw away the key, but she needed to sleep first.

Casey drew her lover a hot bath and washed her tenderly as the detective closed her eyes. "Thank you."

Casey kissed her forehead. "Just relax, Baby."

An hour after they ate dinner, the detective was fast asleep in Casey's bed.

Olivia woke up in a warm embrace. Casey had her head resting on the divide between Olivia's neck and shoulder, which always delighted the brunette. The detective rolled over and woke up Casey with a series of soft kisses.

"Good morning," Casey mumbled as Olivia kissed and nipped at her jaw line.

Olivia kissed her mouth softly. Brown eyes met green, and so much was said unspoken.

Olivia's rough hands slid under Casey's t-shirt and tossed it aside, leaving the redhead in nothing but her panties. Casey pulled Olivia closer, locking her legs around her lover's hips. They started to rock into each other.

The rest of their clothes got pushed out of the way. Lips and teeth sank into necks and shoulders, and both women found release with their legs intertwined.

I love you's said with soft whispers and caresses. Casey would have loved to stay in bed with Liv all day, but they both had to work.

With a well-rested mind and body, Olivia was ready to dive right into their facts and sort this shit out.

When she got to work, she headed straight for the whiteboard, starting with the victim's statements. They had assumed that he was just picking kids who fit his "type," but what if there was a connection between the victims? Maybe the perp actually knows them.

When Elliot got to work, Olivia was already drawing lines between the victims. She had ECED written on the lines.

"What is that?"

"Every Child Every Day, it's an organization that gets kids into after school/weekend programs to keep them out of trouble. All of our victims were in this organization. It's possible our perp picked them out this way."

Elliot frowned. "How did we not see this before?"

"Our victims did different activities in different league." One played soccer, one did flag football and another was playing ultimate Frisbee, "but each league is under the umbrella of ECED."

Olivia went on their website and pulled the list of staff. She and Elliot started looking to see who fit their suspect's description.

An hour later, they had a viable suspect.

"Sean Paulson is their program coordinator." His photo resembled the composite, and he would have the rosters for each team and their schedules.

He his record was clean, but that didn't mean he didn't have any prior offenses.

"Let's get down there," Elliot grabbed his keys. It was time to visit ECED.

It wasn't until they got in the car that Elliot started nosing around, "Good morning."

"Yeah, why?"

"Your eyes have that glow."

"That glow?"

"That, I just got laid, and it was good glow."

"How do you …"

"Again, I've been your partner for seven years." She had that glow with Alex. She has that glow with Casey. She did not have that glow with Cassidy.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Still none of your business."

"Can't you just let a poor man dream?"

"I can kick a poor man in the balls."

When they got there, Jeanine was happy to show them around and answer their questions.

"Are you looking to enroll your child in one of our programs?"

They looked at each other.

"We don't have children," Elliot said, "I mean I have four children but …"

"We're not together," Olivia told her before showing her a badge.

"Cops? What do you want with our office?"

"Is there somewhere we can talk discretely?"

In her office, Olivia explained the case. "Three boys have been molested over the past six weeks. Each one of them was enlisted in one of your programs."

"It seems unlikely that a random perp would pick out three boys in ECED given all of the children that are in the park every day. We think someone with access to your roster picks out his victims in advance and targets them at the games."

Jeanine looked ready to barf. "Oh Lord."

"We need a list of everyone who has the master list to your programs and a list of everyone who goes to the games."

Jeanine had her secretaries pull both lists. Sean Paulson was on both of them.

"Have any of your workers shown an unhealthy interest in the children?"

"None of them seemed like perverts," Jeanine squealed. "I do this because I love kids."

Olivia handed her a tissue.

"Sean was assigned to work each day that a boy was attacked."

"Let's see if our victims can identify him."

They decided to go with a photo lineup, so they wouldn't need him present. There was no need to tip him off in advance.

Once they got a hit, they went back to ECED and arrested him on the spot.

He tried to run, but when his coworkers heard the charges, they chased him down and started to beat him up. Elliot and Olivia had to rescue him like Mrs. Lovett when her customers found out she had been serving them human meat pies.

At first, Sean denied everything. "I would never hurt those boys. I love them."

"We know you love them. That's the problem."

Eventually, they got him to admit it, but his confession was the most disturbing of all. "I was really just mentoring them on what it means to be a man. The ancient Greeks did this all the time."

"What a scholar?" Elliot hissed.