A/N: Only one more chapter to go. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 29

"Hey Liv," Amanda Rollins gave her commanding officer a smile as she entered the hospital room the next morning. While she was married to ADA Carisi, she kept her maiden name for work purposes. It was better to have her private life private.

"Hey yourself. Where's Carisi?" Olivia asked, surprised not to see him.

"He went for coffee," Rollins smirked.

"I doubt the coffee here is about as good as precinct coffee," Olivia chuckled.

"Yeah, it's not great. Not sure how I'm supposed to be getting better if I'm eating hospital food," the blonde teased.

"How are you doing?" Her friend wanted to know.

"This has been…" Rollins heaved a sigh.

"A lot?" Olivia wondered.

"That's one word for it. Dominick still has to be tube-fed. Luckily, I'm producing milk so the nurses are feeding him that, which the doctor is really happy that we can do that. He said it would have been harder if Dominick was my first kid," the blonde explained.

"Well, that's good though. The nutrition from your own milk is better than formula. Have you had to explain to Billie and Jessie?" The elder woman asked.

"They're worried that I'm never coming home. The problem is that Nicky can't come home until he gains weight, can actually suck and swallow milk on his own, he can regulate his own temperature, and they make sure his eyes are developing properly and show sensitivity. That last one…" there was another sigh.

"Hey, his heart, lungs, and digestive system are all working right? If his eyes need a little help, then things are not that bad," Olivia tried to reassure her.

"Hey Liv. I brought you some of this wonderful coffee," Carisi said as he walked into the hospital room. He handed her a paper cup with one of those little paper rings on it.

"Thanks. Amanda was just telling me all about how things are going. Who's been watching the girls?" Olivia asked.

"My mother and my sister. My mom is happy to have three grandchildren running around the house," he said.

"Good. I was just asking how little Nicky's systems are working," she told him.

"Good. They are hopeful that he can come home in about two weeks. They are happy with his progress," Carisi smiled.

"That's great. Do you guys need any help with anything?" The Captain was worried that their health insurance wouldn't cover another couple of weeks in the hospital for Amanda.

"Fin said he was taking up a collection," Rollins smirked.

"Well, if I need to ream someone out in Benefits Coordination then I need to know that," Olivia offered.

"Medically, Amanda can go home now, but since she has to be here multiple times a day to help to feed Nicky, the nice case worker here is trying to work something out with the NYPD's insurance. We probably need to get her a really nice gift or something. I wouldn't want to be spending all that time dealing with the insurance," Carisi explained.

"It was a pain in the ass, when I got shot, both literally and figuratively," Olivia chuckled, referring to the Shadowërk incident at the diner. Rollins chuckled as well.

"How did that Queens detective work out?" The blonde asked.

"You're not thinking of leaving me, are you?" Olivia gave her a look.

"We're not a one income family," Carisi teased.

"She seemed pretty smart to me. Just wondered if you could poach her while I'm on maternity leave," Rollins admitted.

"Queens is already down a detective besides her. I'm losing Churlish back to the Bronx but we get to keep Bruno. We'll make do. I'm not requesting any help. I won't get it, even if I asked for it," she teased.

"Stabler won't come back?" The blonde waggled her eyebrows.

"That would be a problem since we're trying to make a go of it," Olivia admitted.

"I can imagine," Rollins chuckled. She was happy for her friend. She'd had misgivings about Elliot at first but the elder detective had changed her mind by his actions. There was a knock on the door and a nurse poked her head in.

"That time of the day," Rollins said.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. I have to get into the precinct. Let me know if you need anything," Olivia told her.

"Will do," Rollins smiled.

To Be Continued…