A/N: A little fluff.
"Of course you can come stay with me tonight, that's what friends are for! In fact, why don't you pack enough clothes and diapers to last a week or so? Let Gracie pack however many toys she wants to bring in addition to what I keep here for her when she comes over for me to babysit, and you two can stay with me for a week or two. I have that extra room that we can turn into a nursery. When you run out of clean clothes, we'll just do laundry and when Gracie gets low on diapers we can buy more. It'll be good for both of you to decompress away from your apartment for a little while. You can come over right now; don't even worry about having dinner first, I'll feed you." Amanda spoke into the phone pressed to her ear, already searching through her kitchen for enough ingredients to feed three people.
"Thanks, Amanda. Are you really sure you don't mind? I have a feeling it's going to be a rough night for a certain someone." Olivia kissed the top of Gracie's head, holding the little one close and gently stroking her hair while the little one held onto her with a desperate grip, refusing to let go.
"That's why I take sleeping pills." Amanda teased, "Seriously, though, I really don't mind, I'd be happy to have you both. And if little miss has a couple of rough nights, she has every right to it and we'll both be there to comfort her."
"Thanks, Amanda. We'll be there sometime in the next hour." Olivia hung up the phone and turned her attention to her baby girl in her arms, "Hey, baby, ready to hear choices?" Olivia spoke lovingly, and received a nod on her shoulder in response to her question.
"It looks like we are going to be staying with Amanda and Frannie for a week or two, and you get to pack however many toys you want to bring with you. Your choice is whether you want to pack your toys first, or if you want to pack your clothes first." Olivia explained kindly. In reality, it was an inconsequential choice since either way both things would get done, but given what they had just been through, Olivia wanted to let Gracie have some small sense of control.
"Toys first, Mommy he'p, peeze." Gracie said softly.
"Good girl, so polite. Of course I will help you pack your toys, and then I'll help you pack your clothes, and then Mommy will pack her clothes."
"I he'p pack Mommy's clothes?"
"I would love for you to help me pack my clothes, you are a very good helper. First we have to go and get our suitcases from the big storage closet at the end of the hall that everybody on this floor shares. Then we can start packing. Do you want to come with me to get the suitcases, or do you want to stay here and start deciding which toys you want to take?"
"Go with Mommy, no leave me." Gracie whimpered fearfully.
"Mommy will never leave you, baby, I'm right here with you." Olivia kissed Gracie's temple.
It was a bit of a struggle to get their suitcases out of storage since Gracie kept wanting to cling to her, but Olivia managed to retrieve their suitcases and bring them into their apartment. Gracie looked over all of her toys and books and carefully chose which ones she wanted to take with her, and Olivia had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the serious expression on Gracie's cute face, as if the fate of the world hinged on her choices. When Gracie was satisfied that her toys had been properly packed, including Jewel, she turned to choose which clothes she wanted to take with her, taking this task just as seriously as the previous one. Of course, along with all of her baby girl things, they packed some of big girl Grace's clothes too, including her professional clothes for work. Olivia had decided that they would take at least the next three or four days off, but after that they would both need to return to work and try to resume some sense of normalcy. With all of that accomplished, Olivia let Gracie help her pack her own suitcase. Olivia instinctively knew that both her big girl and her baby girl would be testing the waters in the coming days to see if the rules and structure were still the same as before, and she packed the hairbrush in preparation, causing Gracie to pout when she saw the wicked implement being packed away in Mommy's suitcase. Olivia buckled Gracie into the car and drove to Amanda's apartment.
"Perfect timing, dinner should be ready in about half an hour." Amanda smiled when she opened the door and stepped aside to allow her guests entry into the apartment. Hearing the door open, Frannie got up from where she was laying and walked over to investigate.
"Hi, 'Manda! Hi, doggie!" Gracie gave Amanda a hug and then eagerly got down on the floor to greet Frannie, giggling when Frannie licked her.
"Come here, baby, you can play with Frannie in a little while. Let's go unpack all our things and get ready to have dinner." Olivia said.
"Yes, Mommy." Gracie obediently got up and followed Mommy into what was going to be her room for the next week or two, the same room that Gracie always took her nap in whenever she came over for Amanda to babysit her. Gracie smiled when she saw that Amanda had put a purple comforter and purple sheets on the bed just for her, and she was delighted to have her very own nursery for all of her toys since Amanda's apartment was bigger than theirs and had an extra room. With all of their things unpacked and put away, Olivia gently laid Gracie down on the bed when the little one informed her that she needed a diaper change before dinner.
"Soup's on!" Amanda called out when dinner was ready.
"What kinda soup is we having?" Gracie asked as she climbed up into her chair at the table.
"We're not having soup tonight, that's just what some people say when dinner is ready. Tonight we're having Mexican casserole." Amanda smiled.
"I loves casseroles!" Gracie's dazzling blue eyes lit up happily as Mommy gently fastened her bib around her neck.
Gracie babbled happily all through dinner, talking about all the things little girls love to talk about. After dinner, Olivia realized the one thing she had forgotten about; Gracie always got a cookie after dinner as a reward if she cleaned her plate, but Olivia didn't have any cookies on hand tonight. Luckily, Amanda had some popsicles in the fridge, and Gracie willingly accepted the frozen treat as a replacement.
"Do you want cherry, grape, or orange, sweetheart?" Amanda inquired.
"G'ape, peeze."
Amanda retrieved the requested flavor, carefully opened the wrapper, and handed it over to the little one.
"What do you say?" Olivia prompted kindly.
"T'ank ew!" Gracie smiled.
"Good girl, so polite." Olivia praised.
"She's out like a light. Remind me to never make that sound again when I'm reading to her, that hurt my throat." Olivia said later that night after tucking Gracie into bed and going to join Amanda sitting on the couch.
"Poor baby had a rough day, I'm sure she's exhausted. You have to be exhausted too, how are you holding up?" Amanda asked.
"I haven't even had time to figure out how I'm holding up, I've been focusing all of my energy on making sure she's okay, I think she's still in a little bit of shock. Hell, I think I'm still in a little bit of shock. Of all the crazy things that have happened to me over the years at SVU, I think this takes the cake. Even the one or two times I've had someone break into my apartment, I've never had to shoot someone in my own home. I lit a fire under the landlord and he's going to replace the carpet in my bedroom, but I don't know if we'll ever be able to go back there. Every time I close my eyes, I just see that monster coming at my baby and his dead body falling on top of her. I probably scarred her for the rest of her life." Olivia's throat clogged with emotion.
"Olivia Margaret Benson, you did no such thing. I saw the way the two of you were cuddled up while you were reading to her, that little girl adores you. It's not your fault he fell on top of her, blame gravity." Amanda scolded, and Olivia chuckled as she was middle named.
Later that night, Olivia bolted out of bed practically without waking up when a blood-curdling scream pierced the peaceful silence, followed by another, and the older brunette hurried to comfort and soothe her frightened baby. She found Gracie sitting up in bed sobbing hysterically, and when she saw her Mommy standing there Gracie reached out her arms towards her, clenching and unclenching her fists, begging Mommy to cuddle her. Olivia scooped her up and settled her on her lap to cuddle her.
"Mommy's here, baby. Mommy's right here. You're safe, my angel, he can't hurt you anymore. You were just having a bad dream, it's all over now."
"Mommy, da bud!" Gracie sobbed, clinging to Mommy for dear life.
"I know it was very scary, baby girl. No more blood, all gone. You had a bath and there's no more blood, I promise. That's my good girl." Olivia soothed, gently cuddling and comforting her baby as Gracie slowly calmed in her arms.
Amanda walked in holding Gracie's sippy cup filled with warmed milk and handed it to Olivia, then she sat down on the bed to help comfort the frightened baby. Olivia accepted the sippy cup gratefully and gently held it to Gracie's lips. Gracie opened her mouth to receive it and drank thirstily. When the sippy cup was empty, Olivia replaced it with a pacifier and then reached underneath Gracie's pajama top to gently rub her belly to provide further soothing, while at the same time Amanda's gentle hand stroked Gracie's long brown hair, both women sympathetically understanding that it could be very unsettling for a little one to wake up in a bed other than their own, especially when they had been traumatized so recently. Gracie eventually fell back asleep in Mommy's arms, the warm milk in her belly doing its job, and Olivia decided to take Gracie to bed with her instead of tucking her back into her own bed, wanting to be nearby in case Gracie woke up again.
The next morning, Olivia woke up and panicked momentarily when she found Gracie gone from the bed, but then she relaxed when she smelled breakfast cooking and heard Gracie giggling, guessing correctly that Gracie had woken up when she smelled breakfast and got up to join Amanda in the kitchen.
"Good morning, ladies." Olivia smiled when she walked in the kitchen freshly showered and dressed casually.
"Mommy, we maded brake-fast! I he'ped!" Gracie happily ran into Mommy's arms, still dressed in her pajamas.
"Well, if you helped, then I'm sure it will be delicious. What are we having?" Olivia smiled, holding Gracie close.
"We's havin' b'ueberry an' 'nana pancakes, an' eggs an' bacon! An' 'Manda has two kinds of syrup, we has choices!" Gracie announced, holding up two fingers.
"That sounds yummy! Do you need a fresh diaper before breakfast?"
"No, 'Manda changed mine diaper when I waked up."
"Okay, then, let's sit down and get ready to put some food in our bellies. Do you want milk or orange juice in your sippy cup?"
"Can I has chak'lit milk, peeze?" Gracie asked hopefully.
"Good girl, so polite. Yes, you can have chocolate milk."
"You're in luck, I just bought a new carton of chocolate milk two days ago." Amanda said.
"Where is your sippy cup? Oh, I forgot." Olivia went to retrieve the sippy cup that was still in Gracie's room from the night before, then she returned to the kitchen and filled it with the requested drink.
After breakfast, Olivia picked Gracie up and carried her to her room to get dressed for the day.
"One, two, three." Olivia plopped a giggling Gracie down on her bed, "Now lets figure out what you want to wear today. Do you want to wear jeans today or your green dress?"
"G'een d'ess, peeze." Gracie replied. The dress was made of casual, comfortable fabric with a picture of Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian on the front, and the hem fell just short of Gracie's diaper. It was Gracie's favorite dress.
"Mommy, we go to p'aygroun' today, peeze?" Gracie asked while Olivia was getting her dressed and fixing her hair into pigtails.
"I think we can go to the playground later after your nap. This morning you can play here with Frannie while Mommy makes a bunch of boring grown-up phone calls."
"Doggie?" Gracie looked around for Frannie.
"I think Frannie is still in the kitchen finishing her breakfast."
"Why Frannie not get no pancakes?"
"Well, doggies have their own special food and treats that they eat. It's not healthy for a doggie to eat people food except maybe once in a while. Maybe later Amanda will let you give Frannie a treat."
"Doggie kisses! 'Manda, Frannie has doggie breath!" Gracie giggled later on, playing with Frannie on the floor with Amanda sitting nearby to watch over her while Mommy was on the phone.
"Look, Tucker, I didn't appreciate waking up to your message this morning. I already told you, Detective Muncy and I are taking three or four days off. You can talk to us after that." Olivia sat in the kitchen with her phone pressed to her ear as she scolded the head of IAB.
"Captain, you know how this goes. You need to have your interview with me as soon as possible or we'll have to find another Captain to replace you until you have your interview."
"I understand that, and I need you to understand that 'as soon as possible' will have to be in three or four days." Olivia replied firmly, confident that her squad was in good hands with Fin in charge in her absence.