-oo0O0oo-

They get back onto the main road after a quick meal. Elliot makes sure to note Olivia's continuous smile throughout the next few minutes. Olivia scrolls through her emails as Elliot speeds down the highway. Once she puts her phone back into her blazer pocket. Elliot fills the silence, "You said you found Noah in a drawer?"

Olivia smiles as she remembers the fond memory, "Noah was just a baby. We busted child pornographers and found him in the motel room dresser drawer."

"Did he stay with you?" Elliot tries to further the conversation.

"He bounced around from foster home to foster home before we even knew his name. He was 'Baby Boy Doe' for a while. Then we found his biological mother, Ellie Porter- which is a long story in itself-"

"We got nothing but time."

Olivia grins and continues to summarize, "Ellie was raped and sold by Johnny D, Noah's biological father, to a gang. Her pimp sold Noah to a child pornography ring."

"Quite the backstory," Elliot mutters.

"That's not even half of it. When we figured out that Ellie was Noah's biological mother, we gave her a deal. If she stayed clean and testified against her pimp, she could regain custody of Noah."

It grows silent in the car. Elliot can hear Olivia sigh deeply. Elliot puts the pieces together and figures that Noah's biological mother was unable to stay clean. He pushes the conversation along, "So…"

"Ellie left the halfway house and got high. Her former gang attacked her."

"Attacked as in…"

"She was gang-raped, tortured, then set on fire."

"Oh my God…"

"Noah went back to the state after that. I went to every hearing. I wanted to make sure he ended up in a good home. Judge Linden granted me temporary custody of Noah."

"That's amazing, Liv."

"Oh, that's not it," Olivia swivels her head towards Elliot and then back towards the road, "At that time, nobody knew who Noah's biological father was. We had busted a sex trafficker, who pinged a match with Noah's DNA."

Elliot raises his eyebrows as he takes in Noah's origin story, "That is some mess…"

"Then, Noah got measles and was hospitalized. I had Noah baptized-" Olivia is cut off by Elliot is utterly shocked.

"Baptized? But you're not…"

"I wanted Noah to grow up in some form of a community. He can decide whether that is what he wants or not."

"Oh…"

"I had my final home check and was set to adopt Noah. At that time I had stopped withholding Noah's biological father's information. Apparently, Johnny D was notified. He ended up dying in a courtroom gunfight."

"That's one way to go out."

Olivia chuckles under her breath and smiles, "I adopted Noah a few weeks later."

Elliot warms up from her radiant glow, "I'm glad. I always knew you would be a great mother." Olivia nods her head as a 'thank you.' The car is beginning to fall silent again when Elliot asks, "What about Calvin?"

"What about Calvin?" Olivia asks back.

"I know before I… Before I left, you were trying to get in contact with him," Elliot narrows down his question.

"I got in contact with him," Olivia answers.

"That's good."

"His grandparents brought him up a couple of times a year for a few years. As he got older he visited less, but we still sent letters and emails back and forth. I was always checking in on him."

"And now?"

"I hadn't heard from Calvin for the better part of a year. But um…" Olivia's smile grows, "About a year ago I got an email from him. A photo of a baby. His daughter… Olivia…"

"No way," Elliot grins at the idea of Olivia having a baby named after her.

"He asked me if I wanted to meet her and his girlfriend."

"And…"

"And… If you would let me finish… I took a trip to Connecticut and visited them. Calvin has a job as a forensic psychologist. His girlfriend, Laney, is very sweet. They actually met at work."

"Oh really now? Elliot cocks his eyebrow and tilts his head.

Olivia nods her head, "Mhmm."

Elliot levels his expression back to normal, "Does Noah know about Calvin?"

"Not yet," Olivia simply says.

"Does Calvin know about Noah?" Elliot switches his question.

"He does," Olivia declares. Yawning she pulls over on the side of the empty road, "Your turn?"

Elliot shakes his head as he opens his door, "I told you I should have just driven straight from the diner." Elliot and Olivia pass each other at the front of the car, only looking at each other for a second before switching positions. Pulling back onto the road, he angles his head ever so slightly to look at his partner and continue focusing on the road. He decides that now is the moment, "Liv… I need to tell you something."

-oo0O0oo-

A/N: I realize I forgot to add the Sheila Porter storyline. I will see if that fits into any of the other chapters, but if it doesn't fit, just know that I tried.