Baby Benson-Stabler, due date July 5.

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The clock had just hit five in the morning when Fin dropped his coat on his chair and sat down at his desk. Munch, who was already sitting in front of him, pushed one of his coffee cups in front of him, and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Morning."

"Is it morning, or is it night? Who could tell?" Fin grunted and grabbed his coffee cup, raised it to his lips and took a long swig. However, he didn't have time to enjoy his drink for long, because at the same moment Cragen appeared from his office, a serious expression on his face.

"Oh God, what has Tucker done now?"

However, Cragen shook his head. "It wasn't Tucker. I think he's sleeping like a log. It was Kathy."

"Kathy?" Munch raised his eyebrows in surprise. "It's been a while."

It was true. After the interrogation, she had disappeared through the door of the precinct, and there hadn't been a flash of blond hair since. She had called a couple of times, mostly to ask if the investigation had progressed, but otherwise contact with Elliot's ex-wife had been very quiet.

Surprisingly quiet.

Considering that Elliot and Kathy had been married for over 20 years, one would have thought that despite the divorce, she would have been more interested in the situation. Or maybe she was but didn't feel she was being helpful by calling constantly, who knows. Their older kids had also called a few times, but they had had nothing but disappointments to offer them.

"Yeah. She called to ask if they had to… If they had to start organizing the funeral. Apparently Stabler's mother had brought it up."

The descending silence spoke more than a thousand words. Suddenly the coffee started to taste bitter in Fin's mouth, and he put his cup down on the table, trying to think of something to say.

But what could he have said? Olivia and Elliot were their friends, and while all of them were aware of the situation, they hadn't wanted to think about it. Hope was the only thing that kept them searching, and they couldn't afford to lose it.

"What did you say?"

"I said that the case is not closed yet. There is still a chance that they will be found. But…"

"But what?" Fin asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"I told them that the possibility of a different outcome also exists. They've been missing for several weeks now, and we haven't found a single clue yet, so... I let them make up their own minds."

"But what about Olivia?" Munch's question made Fin almost flinch, and the tight feeling in his throat began to tighten. "She's... She has no one."

"She has us," Cragen's voice was firm, final. "And we will do what we are supposed to do, if the situation seems like that."

"Yeah," Fin muttered as he lowered his gaze, preventing the others from seeing the tears that had begun to burn in the corners of his eyes.

She has us.

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Olivia was so immersed in her own world, the due date and the feeling that all this was really true, that she hadn't even realized to think that her sudden disappearance had certainly not caused her partner, her child's father, a very relaxed emotional state. As the outdoor hour had not yet ended, the guard pushed her out of the door, led her into the yard, and in the bright sunlight, squinting, still deep in her own thoughts, she stopped in the middle of the yard.

It wasn't until Elliot's panicked, stifled exclamation that snapped her back to reality, turned her head, and when she saw her partner start to run towards her, she realized the situation.

Shit.

"Liv!" Elliot exclaimed again, almost tripped over his feet, stumbled the last meters to her, and his blue eyes full of fear, worry, he asked in a hoarse voice: "Where the hell have you been? Are you okay?"

The words seemed to get stuck in Olivia's throat for a moment in front of his intense being, his gaze and his body language, and she blinked as she searched for her words. Suddenly, she didn't know where to start, but Elliot misinterpreted her lack of speech, and his gaze landed on her belly.

"Is… Is the baby okay?"

"I… I'm okay, we're both okay, I…" She started but didn't get any further as he pulled her into his arms, wrapped his arms around her tightly, and only then did she realize that his whole body was shaking.

And a pang of guilt cut through her guts.

"I'm sorry, it… I should have told you," she muttered, Elliot took a deep breath, then pushed her shoulders further.

"So where the hell were you?"

Rip off the bandage.

"I had a plan," Olivia licked her lips, Elliot's burning gaze had bored into her face, and she couldn't look away even if she wanted to.

"What plan?"

"I was going to steal the doctor's phone. That's why I asked to see him. But the phone was in his pocket, so the plan failed," she blurted out with one exhale, pressed her lips together and waited for her partner to explode.

But he didn't.

Instead, he let out a weak sigh, his grip on her shoulders loosening, and a mixture of different emotions, chief among them disappointment, flashed across his face.

And for some reason it felt worse than yelling.

"I'm sorry, I didn't tell you because I thought you would have stopped me. I just… Can't…" The lump suddenly started rising in her throat, and it surprised even her. "I can't live like this anymore. I had... I had to do something."

"I damn right would have stopped you," anger started bubbling in Elliot's voice, but it died and turned to sadness before Olivia could grip it. "This is because of what happened before, right?" His arms dropped, he lowered his gaze, and she closed her eyes for a moment.

"Partly yes, but…" She started, but he didn't let him continue.

"This is because I broke your trust."

For heaven's sake…

"What? No! This time anger flared up inside her, and she crossed her arms. "You didn't break my trust, you were drugged, El! And the only, the only reason I didn't tell you was because you wouldn't have let me go alone, and with you my plan wouldn't have worked."

"You…"

"It was the only reason, Elliot!" Olivia snapped. "I got to see the doctor because I said that I had worrisome symptoms, and I got the guard to believe me," she lowered her voice so that the guards standing further away didn't hear her. "Which I haven't had," she quickly added. "But I can tell you that I wouldn't have gotten anywhere if my baby daddy had followed on my heels and demanded to join. Which, by the way, you are."

She hadn't meant to blurt it out so casually, but anger caused the words to escape her lips, causing her to snap her mouth shut. Elliot frowned at first, but then his eyes widened.

"What do you mean?"

"I..." Suddenly finding the right words felt difficult again, and Olivia had to look down at her hands. "I didn't get the phone, but my distraction plan…" She swallowed hard before looking up. "I saw the document, and... You really are the baby's father. The doctor confirmed it."

Elliot didn't say anything for a moment, just stared at her, frozen in place, and Olivia pursed her lips, waiting, waiting for his reaction, preparing for everything.

But he said nothing, his blue eyes began to glitter with tears, and then he took a step toward her, pushed his hands through her hair and kissed her. And this time the kiss wasn't careful and tentative, it was full of emotions, full of love, it was soft and intense at the same time, burning but comforting, and it made Olivia's knees almost buckle.

And when their lips parted and Elliot leaned back a little to look at her, his arms still in her hair, the earlier distress, fear, sadness and anger were gone, replaced by warmth, all-encompassing joy, and his eyes were sparkling like the ocean on a sunny day as he grinned:

"Say it again."

"Say what?"

"Say it again."

A smile widened on Olivia's lips as she realized what he meant, and tears welled up in her eyes too as she chuckled and leaned forward, lips almost touching her partner's.

"You're ridiculous, my baby daddy."

And then she kissed him, captured his lips for the first time, lowered her guard, closed her ears to the voice inside her the back of her head, and gave herself permission to do what she had wanted for as long as she could remember. Elliot's hands landed on her waist and before she could do anything, he had lifted her up and spun her around in the air, making her squeal in surprise. A laugh escaped her lips as he set her down, and realizing that she was laughing for the first time in many weeks, an emotion so deep, so intense filled her every cell that it made her sigh, tilt her head slightly, and whisper, in a barely audible voice:

"I love you."

It was as if the weight of years had been lifted from Elliot's shoulders as he took a deep breath, his body visibly relaxing, his face softening, and as he pressed another tender kiss to her lips and pulled her into his embrace, he whispered:

"I love you too."

And before Olivia closed her eyes, her eyes fell on a tree standing behind them, its branches decorated with red and yellow leaves spreading partially above them. And when she closed her eyes, she saw in her mind the blue-eyed and brown-haired girl of her dreams, and at the same moment she knew exactly what that little girl's name was.

Willow.

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Hello guys! I apologize in advance: my next week will be so busy that I'm afraid I won't have time to write. But I won't forget this story! I'll be back as soon as possible.