Olivia was in a very bad mood by the time she made it to the squad room that day. She'd been well and truly chewed out for having so many open cases, despite the fact that Manhattan SVU had the best closure and conviction rates across the five boroughs. She had argued that they were understaffed and that there was a higher crime rate in her precinct than most, given its location. Add to that, the other precincts passing off cases to the 1-6 as soon as they hear the word 'rape' and there's no wonder her team were snowed under, or that they required a lot of overtime in order to get the job done. Striding into the bullpen, muttering to herself about the Brass only caring about money and appearances, she noticed immediately that Fin and Rollins were missing.

"Afternoon, Lieu," Carisi called from his desk, "They got called out about an hour ago, rape vic at Hudson U." he added helpfully when he saw her looking towards his colleagues' deserted desks. "Rollins texted me names of some key players so I'm busy doing some background checks. Last I heard, Amanda was trying to persuade the vic to go to the hospital for a rape kit, and Fin was questioning the suspect's frat house buddies."

"Thanks Carisi," Liv said as she loosened the tie around her neck, heading towards her office she called over her shoulder to her newest addition, "keep me posted of any developments."

"You got it, Lieu." He replied, eyes already back on his computer screen.

By 5 o'clock that afternoon, Carisi had received a very bad-tempered phone call from Amanda. As it turned out, the case had been a false allegation, the girl had seen the guy flirting with someone else after he had slept with her, so she decided to cry rape to get him in trouble. Carisi relayed all this to Olivia, adding that Rollins and Fin were on their way back to the precinct.

Knowing there was nothing pressing, Liv decided to call it a day and get home to her son. She dropped a text to Amanda before she left.

Sorry I missed you at work today, thanks again for watching Noah last night, and for the coffee this morning. Have a nice weekend and I'll see you Monday morning. Liv x

Sitting in the car with Fin, stuck in rush hour traffic on the way back to the station, Rollins felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out she saw she had a text from Olivia. When she read it, she couldn't help but smile slightly, which Fin noticed with some relief.

Rollins' mood had been getting progressively worse all day, and when the complainant had admitted she lied, Fin thought Amanda might hit her. Rollins had managed to rein in her temper though, and walked away to the car.

"What's gotchu smilin'?" Fin asked, warily. Not wanting to stoke Amanda's bad mood further.

Amanda glanced up from her phone to see him watching her. "Nothin'. Just a message from a friend I haven't seen for a while." Well technically I haven't seen her since yesterday, that's a while, right? "Now, will you keep your eyes on the road? Your drivin' is bad enough when you are payin' attention, let alone when you're distracted." She laughed at the feigned look of hurt on his face.

She wasn't sure why she had been evasive in her answer to Fin. It was only Liv, after all, he had known her a lot longer than Amanda had. Somehow, though, Amanda had separated the two sides of her relationship with the lieutenant, the professional side and the personal. This message was in the personal category, and she liked to keep it that way. With a small shrug to herself, she turned her attention back to her cell, writing a reply.

Sorry I missed you too. Anytime Liv, you know that. Hope you and Noah have a good weekend together. I'll try to be on time on Monday, no promises though ;) A x

-x-

The next day was Saturday. Olivia was awoken at what she considered a thoroughly indecent hour by a little hand pulling insistently at her arm. She opened one bleary eye and couldn't help but smile when she spotted the brown curls and mischievous blue eyes of her beloved son peeking at her over the edge of her mattress. He wasn't tall enough to get up onto her bed by himself, so she leant over and scooped him up, bringing him under the covers with her. "Good morning sweet boy. What are you up to?"

"Mommy, we snuggle?" The little boy burrowed closer into the warmth of his mother's chest, yawning as he asked, his tiny fingers closed around the collar of her pyjama top.

She held him close, kissing the top of his head as he closed his eyes. "Of course my love, I could snuggle with you all day." Liv whispered into his hair. Noah had already drifted back to sleep, so she shut her eyes and quickly followed suit.

An hour or so later she woke again. This time she was laid on her back, and when she opened her eyes, she was looking into a pair of baby blue ones because Noah was almost nose to nose with her. "Mommy," he stage-whispered to her, "Mommy we has pan-case?"

She chuckled, tickling his ribs "yes my love, we're having pancakes. Come on," she said getting out of bed and helping Noah hop down onto the floor, "are you going to help me make the pancakes?"

"I mix it?" He asked, "and put da chockut in?"

"Yes, baby, you can do that bit and I'll cook them, deal?"

They set about making breakfast, having a thoroughly good time. By the time it was ready, both of them were covered in flour, and Noah had chocolate all around his mouth, having eaten as many chocolate chips as he had added to the mixture as he stirred. Liv didn't mind, these moments with her son were precious to her. Once the chocolate pancakes had been cooked and consumed, Liv changed Noah into some clean clothes and parked him in front of some cartoons while she cleaned up the mess, showered and dressed herself.

They spent the rest of the morning playing together. Olivia had been hoping to get out of the apartment, perhaps to the park or the zoo, but the weather quickly changed her mind. It was a cold and rainy April weekend in New York, but it felt wonderfully cosy inside the apartment, listening to the wind and rain pounding against the windows.

After lunch, Noah was ready for a nap, so Liv put him down in his bed for a while. In all honesty she felt ready for a nap herself, but guilt won out and she decided to catch up on some household chores she had been neglecting over the past couple of weeks.

She put a load of laundry in the washer, changed her bedsheets, swept and dusted the living room. She was cleaning the bathroom, when she picked up the waste basket to empty it. She spotted a folded piece of paper on the floor that had clearly missed the basket. Liv picked up the paper, and was about to add it to the trash when she did a double take. Focusing upon the dark pink writing, she read 'First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test'.

The brunette stood there for a moment, stunned. Obviously, it wasn't hers, she hadn't used a pregnancy test since she had been with Brian, about two years ago. Her mind jumped to the only other woman who had access to her home, Lucy. Was Lucy pregnant?

Ever the detective, needing to know the answer, Liv turned her attention to the waste basket in her other hand. Picking through the tissues and cotton balls, she soon came across the white plastic stick, showing two pink lines in the little window, indicating a positive result. What the hell?

Why hadn't Lucy said anything? Was this why she was stressed the other night when she had dropped Noah at the precinct? As far as Olivia knew the young woman wasn't in a relationship. Oh god, what if… The lieutenant's job meant that her mind automatically wandered down that dark path. But no… if Lucy had been assaulted, raped, she would have told her. Or Liv would have noticed. If there was anything Olivia recognised, it was a victim. Lucy had been acting perfectly normally up until a couple of days ago, not to mention she had been fine yesterday morning.

If Lucy hadn't said anything, Liv wasn't going to push her. The nanny would tell her in her own time. Liv wouldn't be seeing Lucy for another week, as the younger woman had requested some time off over her exam period. Between them they had arranged for Lucy's friend, Katie, to look after Noah while Lucy was busy studying. Liv couldn't help worrying though. Lucy had two more years of her graduate degree to complete, and she was only 23.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a small voice calling for her. She finished emptying the trash, washed her hands, then went to find Noah, who had recharged his batteries and was ready for another round of building block towers, racing cars and flying like an aeroplane.

The weekend continued in much the same pattern, though Liv often found her thoughts straying to the young nanny, wondering if she could help her in any way. By Sunday night, Olivia was laid in bed staring at the cell phone in her hand. She had decided to send Lucy a message, not to expose her secret, just to offer support. She began typing…

Hi Lucy, just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you this week. Best of luck with your exams, I'm sure you'll do great! Remember if there's anything you need, or anything I can help you with, I'm just at the other end of the phone. Take care. Liv x

Happy with what she had written, she pressed send and then plugged the phone in to charge on her nightstand. She hoped the message was vague enough that Lucy wouldn't think she was prying into her personal life, but direct enough that Lucy would come to her if she needed help. Rolling back onto her back, Liv eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.