Method to the Madness: An Elliot Stabler Story

Chapter Three

Elliot crept through his front door quietly, not wanting to wake or disturb any of his family, praying they were still asleep at the early morning hour. He silently made his way into the living room but was startled when he saw Kathy sitting in the recliner, rocking one of their twelve-month-old twins, Lizzie.

"Where the hell have you been all night?" She whispered angrily.

"Work," he lied, knowing his demanding job was always a somewhat believable excuse as sometimes he really was called out in the middle of the night for a case.

"I've been up all night with the twins; they're getting sick," she said quietly, ignoring his fib. "It would've been nice to have you here to help me with them. I haven't slept."

"Sorry," he muttered, though he wasn't genuinely sorry. "Here, give her to me." He reached forward to take the baby from her arms but Kathy simply glared at him.

"This is Dickie, not Lizzie," she spat, unable to believe that he really could not tell the difference between his children.

Elliot's face fell, feeling extremely sheepish at the mix-up. "I-I couldn't see his face."

Tears welled up in her eyes. Though the mistake was understandable, as the child's face really could not be seen from where he was standing, she was so angry at him for being gone all night. She wanted to tell him to go to hell, but soft cries from the baby monitor interrupted her. "There," she retorted. "That's Lizzie. Now you can go get her."

He nodded and turned away, feeling very indifferent as he walked up the steps to the second floor of their average, but decent, home. He went into the first room on the left, the twins' room, and walked over to the crib that held his youngest daughter.

She looked up at him, whimpering slightly.

"Hey, sweet girl," he cooed as he picked her up and held her in his arms, bouncing back and forth to sooth her. "What's wrong with my princess? Huh?"

From downstairs, Kathy could hear him through the baby monitor. More tears filled the corners of her eyes as she listened to her husband talk sweetly to their baby.

Lizzie rested her small head on Elliot's chest, snuggling into her father. He kissed the top of her head, feeling increasingly guilty for not being there all night.

He didn't feel very guilty for not being there with Kathy, as their relationship was destroyed beyond repair, but he did feel bad for not being there for his kids. His kids were his world – that would never change; he would've done anything for them, and he never wanted them to forget that.

The fact that he stayed with Kathy for so long was proof that he would do anything for his kids. He planned on leaving her nearly two years ago. Their marriage had been over for quite a while, though they had stayed together for the sake of their daughters, but he was ready to put an end to their misery since the girls were older. He had an apartment lined up and a divorce lawyer ready and everything, but the week before he was going to officially leave, Kathy told him she was pregnant. And to make matters worse, she was pregnant with twins.

Elliot did a lot of soul searching the night he found out about the twins.

He still could've left, of course, but she would've had full custody of their kids due to his demanding and hectic work schedule. He would've missed out on most of the twins' first few years of life, which were the most important to him, as they hit milestone after milestone in their development.

So he stayed. He and Kathy came to the agreement that they would stick it out for a few more years, despite being equally miserable, until the twins were a little older. But they agreed to try and work on their marriage to make things easier and as a desperate attempt to rekindle their love and work things out. It seemed to be working for a while until the twins were a week old. That was when he first met Lana. And just like that, it was officially over on his end.