The Secret

Elliot Stabler had been awake for almost 36 hours. First, there was a 18 hour kidnapping of a little girl that they thankfully found alive and relatively unharmed. Then a rape at Hudson University at the what would have been the start of his shift for the next day. Now, he's hiding in the locker rooms trying to get his head screwed on straight. This text he got from a random number. It didn't make sense. 

You have an appointment at 3 pm today at Russel Pediatrics. Russel Pediatrics was a very high end doctors office for children. He would never take any of his children there. Not to mention they were old enough to go to the doctors themselves now. Dickie and Liz were the youngest at 15. It wouldn't be for a case either. They took all kids to the hospitals and then the state took over from there. 

"Hey, El, Cragen wants us to -- " Liv broke off as she looked at his face. "What's wrong?" She was just as tired as he was, but he looked like he was trying to read hieroglyphics. He looked up at her and then motioned for her to look at his phone. 

Elliot watched her eyebrows come together as one big brow and look at him. "Why do you have an appointment there?" 

"That's the thing, I don't," Elliot stated, shoving his phone back into his pocket and sighing. "I can't even go find out because I have to go meet Dickie's teacher. He said it was important." Elliot stood and groaned. 

Kathy leaving had completely messed up his life. When he found out she was pregnant again, he had been planning on attempting to move on with someone else. He wasn't sure who, maybe Liv if she hadn't been dating this one guy. After the baby was born, she sent a letter to the precinct with a messenger boy and the baby. It had paperwork from a lawyer stating that she gave up all rights to her children. Since then, he's been a single dad with an overly fulltime job. 

Thankfully, Liv's lease was up and she really didn't feel comfortable there anymore. This guy moved in next door and would not stop watching Liv when she saw him. She offered to move into the guestroom to help out. It was their secret. On paper, Liv had moved to Queens with her brother, who was very happy to be included. 

Maureen was in her first year of college while Kathleen was trying to get her life back together from last year's bipolar craze. Her gpa had tanked and she was working overtime to make up for it. Maureen was both trying to keep her grades and sleeping around, trying to have the best of both worlds. Liz was simply rebelling hard. She would come home and lock herself in her room. No one could get her out. Dickie was the hardest one. He would pick fights at school and his grades were terrible. The baby was always watched by someone, either Liv or Elliot. On rare times would Simon have to bring his daughter over and watch Eli at the house. More times than any Kathleen was babysitting. 

Elliot knew it was because their mother left them. He tried to keep himself together for them, but everything was taking a toll on him. He had the life he wanted with Liv, but they weren't together. They barely saw each other at home sometimes. They needed help. 

"I'll go to Dickie's conference. You put me on the list right?" Liv asked a little quieter with a quick look back to see if anyone was walking by. 

"Yeah," Elliot muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Thanks."

Liv touched his hand for a moment with a smile. "I'll talk to Simon about maybe paying him a little to babysit on certain days so that we can get some sleep. He's willing and Eli seems to love playing with Libby." 

Elliot groaned. "I know, it's just. I'm the father, I should be taking care of him." 

"El, you are taking care of him, but realizing that you need help in taking care of the house. You are one person and can't do the work of stay at home mom and working dad." Liv cupped his face in her hands. Elliot closed his eyes and enjoyed the sweet scent of her lotion, drinking in her warmth. 

They stood that way for a moment, their foreheads pressed against each other's. "We better get to Cragen's office. He has something to talk to us about."

"What'd I do now?"