Continued
Courthouse
Manhattan
Alex got the first voicemail on her last court break of the day. It sounded more like a buttdail than an actual voicemail.
"Elliot, do NOT apologize to me right now. I don't want to-eeeeaaaaaahhhhhhh."
"Is that another contraction? That's less than a minute."
And that was the end of the voicemail. Alex tried to call back but got no answer. The courtroom filled up one more time. And she pushed Olivia's cry to the back of her mind. Or tried to.
The next 30 minutes of court, her phone vibrated multiple times.
"Ms. Cabot, do you need to take that," the Judge asked her as she clicked her phone off a third and fourth time.
Blue 1995 Sedan
Midtown
"Turning fast. Hang tight," Munch said as he made a sharp right through traffic.
Olivia was oddly calm as her body bashed against the side of the car. Her contractions had subsided for a moment, but the men in the car were still on high alert.
"Munch if you turn like that again I'm going to throw up in your hair. Now everyone calm down. Elliot stop breathing at me, I'm not contracting anymore."
"Is that bad? Can you feel the baby move?"
She touched his face and appeased his anxiety. "El honey, it's going to be okay. Take a deep breath. This is normal. Please call Alex."
He tried to touch her and she pushed him off.
"Alex," she softly said and forced out a smile.
"Got it. I love you so much," he said through fear and puppy dogs eyes.
"I know," she responded as she rubbed her belly and focused only on the baby and herself.
Courthouse
Alex lost her case. Her mind was unfocused. There wasn't enough evidence, and her defense wasn't tight enough. The Mob boss that she was trying to convict looked her in the face on the way out, and whispered "Watch you back, Cabot."
Fin was standing nearby in the courtroom audience and saw the interaction. "Was that threat," Fin asked her, suddenly concerned.
"Sure was," She clicked on her phone again and listened to the messages.
"Alex, Olivia is in labor. She really wants you. We're headed to the hospital. This is Elliot…by the way."
"What's the emergency," Fin asked.
"Olivia is labor. Elliot sounds like he's having a panic attack. You want to drive me?"
"I would, but I didn't drive. Traffic is a mess. You'd do better walking. I'll go halfway with you, come on."
She nodded and by the time she made it to the hospital she'd jogged 10 blocks and had given herself a blister.
She wisped through the hospital doors in her usual courthouse power suit, sweaty and windblown.
Munch happened to be in the lobby and waved towards her. "Alex, she's down this way. We have to sign you in."
"Did she have the baby yet? Did I miss it," she asked.
"No baby yet. Just…a lot of high tension and well, Olivia wasn't pleased with my driving and Elliot's midwife techniques are...bunglesome."
"Bunglesome? Way to use your New York Times word of the day, Munch."
Munch blushed a little. "You know me well."
"God only knows why she wants me here? The whole baby coming out of a body…borderline terrifies me."
Munch chuckled as they huffed it down the long hallway and through security.
"It's a woman thing…I gather. My sister kicked out her husband when she had her babies. Only wanted my mom in there with her."
"A woman thing," Alex shook her head. "I know nothing about babies. Nor have I ever wanted to."
"Aw…never," he asked.
"No," she gave him a hard look.
"And this is what is wrong with the world," Munch shook his head right back at her.
"What, me not wanting to be barefoot and pregnant popping out kids," she tossed him a glare.
"No, not in that sense. That an educated beautiful woman like yourself who would raise decent intelligent human beings, would choose to not raise children. We've got people who should never have children popping them out left and right, and people who parent their children remaining celibate."
"I suppose. The growing of a human inside me though….that's the thing that, I can't get around. Olivia made me go with her to a few of these birthing classes, and being in a room with that many happy pregnant people, was…harrowing. Like little Alien pods all around me. I couldn't even do the breathing with Olivia, I just held her hand and tried not look terrified."
"And Alex, I think that's all she wants. You know our girl, independent to a fault. Also, not all parents have to push their kid out," he semi-flirted with her as he opened the door.
She gave him a tilted grin. "Yes, I could always adopt. Food for thought. Wish me luck."
She took in a deep breath and headed for Olivia's assigned room.
Inside the room, Olivia sat up on a bed hooked to all the appropriate monitors. She and Elliot were watching "Unsolved Mysteries" and commenting on it as if it were any old day at the precinct.
"And this is where small-town American police departments create mass hatred towards all cops. That guy gaslit that woman for no reason. She's a victim! He should be immediately fired," Olivia said, as she pointed to the TV.
"And they contaminated the scene of the crime. Rookies," Elliot added, his voice was back to it's normal pitch.
"Hello," Alex interrupted.
"Alex," Olivia's face lit up.
Elliot stopped watching the television and immediately checked the heart machines again. Then paced from the machine to a chair next to Olivia's bed.
Alex was expecting screams and heads coming out of places they shouldn't be coming out of, but the room was strangely calm with only a hint of tight anxious energy oozing off of Elliot's tense shoulders.
"Ah…what the heck, you guys. I have six panicked voicemails from you. I ran 10 blocks in heels and a skirt. And you two are….watching cop shows. Are you really watching this while you're in labor," she judged.
Olivia and Elliot gave each other a look and shrugged a bit. "It's how we wind down," Olivia answered.
Alex let out a short laugh under her shaking judgmental stare. "I don't know why I'm surprised. You two were meant for each other."
Olivia reached out for her hand and grabbed it. "Sorry for blowing up your phone. I thought I was going to have a baby in the backseat of a cop car. Munch was weaving in and out of traffic. This guy," she looked at Elliot. "Was trying to give me a full-blown Lamaze class. I needed your grounded energy. And still do. Please stay."
Elliot tapped on the heart monitor as if it weren't working, but it was.
Olivia silently acknowledged Elliot's behavior, and Alex nodded and sat on the bed.
"Don't fret. I'll stay," she padded Olivia's hand. "So…are you in labor? I'm very confused."
"The drugs are…amazing," Olivia sighed. "Thank god. My water broke and the pain was so excruciating at first…I saw a white light at one point and thought, 'this is it. I'm dying in the back of a sedan and Elliot is going to raise our kid in Queens with Kathy and his Bi-Polar mother.' Then we got here, they gave me drugs, and I thought I'd be having this baby by now, but apparently I'm only contracting every 8 minutes, which isn't enough to push. I really don't understand how people have natural births."
"Oh, hell no," Alex agreed. "What are all these machines?'
"Heart monitors," Elliot answered. "Baby's heart rate is a little high. If it doesn't change they could have to do a C-section."
"Ah…," Alex watched him pace and then look at the TV, which had turned into white trash people fighting in a reenactment. "We should probably turn this off then." Alex grabbed the remote and turned off the bloody crime scene showing up on the TV.
"Drink more water," she handed Olivia her water cup. "That could help. Don't you worry little baby," she talked to Olivia's belly and rubbed it. "Aunty Alex is here. She will save you from these macabre parents of yours."
They all smiled and then sat in the warm silence. Except for Elliot, who couldn't sit still. Elliot bit his cuticle, and then fidgeted forward on the chair, and then back in the chair, and then couldn't stand the silence and stood up. "I'll grab you some more ice chips. Be back."
"Ow. He's a damn mess," Alex commented after the door closed behind him. "If only marijuana were legal."
Olivia closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "He and I had a horrible fight about abortion right as my water broke, and…you know he lost his first baby…Eli. He lost it in the car. This just brings up all of those memories."
"How long ago was that," Alex asked.
"Almost 20 years, but it's a raw topic for him. Always has been."
"Sounds like it's time for a new memory," Alex squeezed her hand. "You'll give him that today."
"Yeah," Olivia immediately teared up and rubbed her belly. They looked at the heart monitor and it went down a notch.
Elliot came back and Alex nodged him to sit next to the bed and hold Olivia's hand. She sat in front of the monitor so he couldn't obsessively look at it, and they kept his mind off of death while they talked about the good old days and her crazy mob case, and her boyfriend Tom, who moved into her apartment, but was still planing to move to Africa to pursue his non-for-profit charity work.
"So, you might move to Africa," Olivia asked with concern.
"I don't know yet. It's all so up in the air. But the truth is...I've been wanting a change, and I do love him...very much."
Olivia blinked in shock, and Alex could see the disappointment on her face.
"But let's not think about that today," she quickly changed the subject.
The hours went by, and then suddenly the nurse came in, checked Olivia and responded with a nonchalant ", Oh. We have a head. Let me get the doctor and we'll give it a push."
Alex backed up and watched as her two best friends held each other and helped bring a new life into the world.
Elliot patiently rubbed the small of her back while she pushed. Olivia gripped his hand for dear life. And through a lot of sweat and tears, the sound of a baby entered the room.
"It's a boy," the Doctor said as he handed the tiny bundle over to Olivia.
"It's a boy," Elliot teared up and got up close to look into his baby boy's eyes.
Alex took a picture with her disposable camera, and smiled through happy tears. And seeing their joy made her a little less afraid of motherhood.
The nurse had Elliot cut the cord, and then he nestled next Olivia, who held their sweet boy.
Olive skin, a head full of dark brown hair, full lips, and wide blue eyes. He only cried for a moment and then blinked up at his mom and dad.
Elliot kissed Olivia's forehead and whispered to his wife. "He's beautiful just like you."
"You should hold him," she whispered back.
"Later," he said.
"No, no. You've been waiting a long time to hold your son. Hold your son, Elliot," she motioned the baby over to him and he lifted the baby into his arms, while Olivia pushed out the afterbirth.
"Hello, little guy. Welcome to the world."
The nurse walked Elliot over to the baby station and took down all of his measurements.
"6 pounds 8 ounces. 10 fingers. 10 toes. clear lungs. beautiful strong heartbeat. ," the nurse said to Elliot. "What are we naming this little sweetheart?"
"Yeah, what are you naming him," Alex said with excitement.
"We've been stuck on boy names," Olivia said, suddenly concerned. "We wanted to make it a family name, or something that had meaning behind it, but…"
"My father's name is Joseph Francios Stabler," Elliot walked the baby back over to Olivia who was now looking at her son with that horrible name in her mind. "But that's….not a good name for Olivia."
"Oh, yeah that's…not a good name," Alex refrained from saying anymore. She was the lawyer that put Joe Hollister, Olivia's father, in jail.
Elliot stroked Olivia's hand in thought. " Liv, I was thinking about this while I paced the halls. What if…"
He whispered into Olivia's ear.
"I… like that," she nodded
"Alexander Elliot Stabler,"Olivia said out loud and looked at the baby who yawned and started to nuzzle her chest for food. "Yeah…Alexander…"