Olivia was quiet on the way to the doctor's appointment the next morning. Her thoughts kept going to the conversation with Fin the night before. After the discovery of the baby boy's body her thoughts immediately went to Sydney. She was convinced that Sydney's reaction to her pregnancy and the discovery of the baby were related but she didn't know how. Then there were the thoughts that sobered her the most. A dead baby. She rubbed her stomach subconsciously every time she thought about it. For a few hours she lost perspective for a little bit. She was getting a little too emotionally involved and she needed to put some distance between herself professionally and mentally from the case. She felt sorry for Sydney without a doubt, but she needed to take care of herself for her baby.
Elliot watched her closely during their ride but didn't want to say much. He knew how Olivia was when she was processing something and she needed to go through the motions. He just hoped that at some point she would talk to him about whatever was going on. When he parked the car at the doctor's office, he reached over to lightly squeeze her hand for reassurance and to break her out of her reverie. He gave her that look that she knew all too well from their years as partners. The silent question 'Are you ok?' She returned his smile and nodded her head. She was fine.
As they walked into the waiting room, she reached for his hand and stroked the inside of his palm. The motion seemed to relax him and he gave her a genuine smile.
"I'm excited to see her on the sonogram again and see how much she's grown," she said after checking in at the front desk.
"Me too. Has she been active this morning?" he asked grinning. Talk of the baby always put him in a better mood. He didn't seem to be studying and worrying anymore.
"Yeah she was moving right before we got in the car."
Olivia's phone started to vibrate and it was Nick calling. She was about to answer it when the nurse called her name.
"Olivia Stabler," she announced.
She silenced the phone and glanced to see Elliot smiling. She didn't know if it was because she didn't take the work call or because he loved to hear her called by her married name.
They walked back to the exam room after getting her weight and she noticed the nurses whispering and looking at them. They went over the normal screening question with Dr. Wilder's nurse and then Olivia began to get undressed.
"So what's with the nurses around here?"
"What do you mean?" he asked with a mischievous grin on his face. She knew exactly what he meant.
"So you're going that route? You're going to act as if you didn't notice the whispers and looks when we walked back here," she said sincerely amused. She appreciated that he was able to lift her mood so easily.
"Well I did warn you about that but you didn't believe me. I think they are all just a little sad to see such a good looking man officially off the market," he boasted.
"Oh please. I thought maybe they were just gawking at my weight," she countered.
"Liv, you are 5 ½ months pregnant and unless you are standing at a certain angle in some clothes, you can't even always tell. Your weight is just fine," he assured her. He stepped in between her legs that were dangling from the exam table and gave her a peck on the lips. "Even if it wasn't I would still love you."
"We will see if you are saying that in a few months when I'm as big as a house," she said jokingly. She had wanted to be pregnant for so long. In actuality, she didn't care what her body ended up looking like as long as she brought a healthy baby into the world.
"Yes I will say that no matter how big you get," he said deepening the kiss. She moaned a bit into his mouth before he pulled back. "Even though all these young hot nurses want me."
She slapped him on the back and laughed before pulling him back in the crux of her legs and kissing him again.
There were a few knocks on the door and then Dr. Wilder entered.
"Well well, it's nice to see some things haven't changed," she teased smirking at her and Elliot. "I would also ask how you are feeling but it seems like you are doing just fine."
"I am doing well thank you and thank you for entertaining my horny husband and his questions about our honeymoon sexcapades," she said sitting back up on the table while Elliot moved back over to sit in the guest chair.
"It's my pleasure. Plus believe it or not he's not the first to ask such questions. I would rather him be safe than sorry. But seriously how have you been feeling?"
"I've been feeling really good. No more sickness, appetite is fine.."
"Sexually and otherwise," Elliot interrupted.
She rolled her eyes and continued, "She's been moving a lot and kicking up a storm."
The doctor jotted everything in her notes nodding at the information Olivia was giving her, "Ok all good signs. I went over the test results and with the history your brother gave us everything looks good so far. How's work? Have you been doing okay with managing your stress?"
Olivia hesitated and Elliot looked down not making eye contact with her or the doctor. He didn't want to speak for her or rock the boat by saying he thought she was stressed out when she felt she had a good handle on things.
"Olivia?" the doctor asked raising an eyebrow at her.
"There's a tough case I'm working on, child involved and...some pretty bad stuff but I'm going to take care of myself. I promise. Not too much stress," she assured her.
"Ok, I trust you. If something comes up though you give me a call. Olivia nodded her affirmation. "Now lay back and let's get a look at her."
Dr. Wilder squeezed some gel on her tummy and began to move the wand around.
"And there she is," she announced cheerfully zooming in a little more so the baby would be closer on the screen. "She's definitely an active one. You guys are going to have your hands full. Looks like her mouth is moving too."
"Uh oh that's not a good sign, hopefully she doesn't talk as much as my other daughters," Elliot joked.
"Or her father," Olivia added.
The doctor pointed out her different features and Olivia watched the screen effectively tuning out everything around her. She vaguely heard Elliot asking questions but her focus was on her little girl on the screen. This was all that mattered. For those few moments that she watched her she forgot about everything else that was going on. There were no thoughts of Sydney, of dead babies, of cases or anything work related. She thought about her husband and the light in his eyes when he talked about their daughter and most importantly she thought about her words to Dr. Thompson just a few short months ago. That she would do anything and everything to make sure that this baby was healthy. And that's exactly what she planned to do.
XXXXXX
They left the doctor's office in good spirits and Elliot texted the kids to let them know that everything went okay. While he updated the kids she talked to Fin and Amaro who were giving her updates. Sydney was still not talking but seemed to be more alert and aware of what was going on around her. Melinda was doing an autopsy on the baby boy's body and should have results for her sometime this afternoon.
"Do you want me to drop you off at the office or we go back home and you take your own car?" he offered. He really didn't want to take her to work and back to the stress of the case but he didn't want her to see his hesitancy.
"Neither. How about we go and have breakfast?" she offered.
He couldn't hide his surprise and narrowed his eyes at her trying to gauge her mood.
"Are you serious? I thought you had to get back to the office?"
"I do but I didn't eat much this morning just some toast and juice. I need a real meal," she said giving him a genuine smile.
It was a bit of a peace offering. They weren't at odds but she needed to assure him that her first priority was their child's well being. She didn't want there to be any doubt and she was grateful that he hadn't called her out on it yet. The old Elliot would have pushed the issue and it would have become a huge argument but he was trusting her and that meant a lot.
He returned her smile and squeezed her hand. "So where do you want to go?"
"Anywhere is fine. I'm not too picky." He arched his eyebrow, "really?"
"Ok ok, let's go to Another Broken Egg. They have some of the best breakfast," she said getting excited suddenly at thinking of food.
When they sat at the table she put her phone on vibrate and put it in her purse. Elliot's surprise was once again evident on his face.
"No phone? This is a first," he teased.
"I just want to have breakfast with my husband. No distractions."
He breathed a sigh of relief and thanked her with a slight upturn of his lips. She'd been distracted and it was nice for him to feel like he had all of her attention. He knew things would have to change once they got back from the honeymoon but he had gotten a little spoiled from all their time together.
The waitress arrived and they both placed their orders before settling into small talk about the appointment.
"She's looking really good Liv," he said glancing at the sonogram pictures again.
"Of course she is. I told you everything is going to be fine. She's going to be fine," she assured him. "What did the girls say when you called them?"
"They were both excited. Told me to tell you to continue to take it easy."
"Surprise surprise."
They were interrupted briefly by the waitress who came back with their drinks.
"Any updates on the case?" he asked tentatively. "You didn't talk much about it last night other than they found a baby at the crime scene. You know I know the drill. You can talk to me about it."
"Yeah I know it's just that I don't want to bring that negativity into our home. Kills the vibe," she explained taking a sip of her apple juice.
"Would you prefer if we went out into the hall and talked about it?" She flashed a small smile but continued to play with her glass on the table to kill some time. He was attempting to lighten the mood but he understood what she meant. He applied the same philosophy to his marriage with Kathy and that's didn't turn out so well. He didn't want it to drive a wedge between them as well.
"No, we don't need to go out into the hall," she sighed before continuing, "Yesterday when I was at the hospital with Sydney she didn't open up until she saw I was pregnant. She touched my belly and said the word baby. It's all she said. I was trying to figure out what it all meant."
Elliot sighed and sat back in the booth. His wheels were turning as well. She knew immediately that he was thinking the same thing that she was.
"You find a dead baby not far from where she was found and then she reacts to seeing you pregnant. So you're thinking..."
"That the baby was hers."
XXXXX
A few hours later, Olivia arrived back to the hospital to see if she could get some information from Sydney. Before she could make it to the room Melinda and the main doctor on her case stopped her.
"We got the results back from some tests we ran on Sydney Greenwood. She tested positive for Chlamydia and there are also signs that she's given birth recently," Dr. Williams explained looking anxiously over at Melinda who held open the manila folder containing the autopsy results.
"I ran Sydney's DNA against the DNA of the baby..."
"They're a match," Olivia interrupted looking over the paperwork.
Melinda nodded her head, "There's more. We have Harrington's DNA in the system from a conviction he had ten years ago."
"He's the father," Olivia stated.
"It wasn't an exact match only a partial. He's not the father, he's the grandfather," Melinda said.
Olivia's eyes widened with recognition.
"Harrington has a son, Marshall. Carisi and Rollins interviewed him a few days ago along with other members of his family. They claimed they haven't been in touch with him," she said feverishly typing numbers in her phone.
"Is Marshall his only son?"
"I'm pretty sure."
"You get me his DNA, I can prove it," she added. "Ill send you a copy of his autopsy report. Death is being ruled a homicide."
"I'm on it."
Olivia thought for a split second about asking Melinda more about the baby but she had the report and she would look at it when she was ready. Right now wasn't the time. She called Fin, told him about the DNA tests and that Marshall was the likely accomplice. Getting their hands on him would be the key to tracking down Jonathan Harrington and taking him down once and for all. In the meantime, she was going to take another crack at Sydney.
She took the folder with the autopsy report in with her as she slowly made her way to the young girl's hospital bed.
"How are you feeling today?" she asked softly not really expecting an answer. Sydney turned her head to look at her as she approached. Olivia wasn't wearing a blazer so her baby bump was more noticeable than it was the day before. Immediately Sydney's deep green eyes locked eyes with her stomach and she began to sniffle.
"It's ok Sydney," she said putting her hand over hers. Her head jerked up to Olivia's at the sound of her name.
"Yes I found out your name. It's Sydney Greenwood. I know that you are 12 years old and you've been missing for a long time. We are trying to track down your parents and they will be here soon to get you. I know they miss you so much," she said in a soothing voice.
There were long moments of silence, just machines beeping and the low lull of the TV in the distance before she heard her small voice. "They're dead."
"Your parents?"
Sydney shook her head up and down.
"What happened to them?" she asked.
"He killed them," she responded with tears running down her cheeks.
"Who is he?" she coaxed. "Can you tell me his name?"
She was quiet again and Olivia knew she was scared.
"I promise he won't hurt you. You are here and we have a guard outside this door. He can't get to you. Who is he?"
She didn't want to push for too much too fast but she was finally making headway. She had to get this girl to open up before any more bodies turned up.
"Mr. Jon. He said they were dead and then he.." She started to squeeze the pillow her arm was resting on trying to distract herself.
Olivia pulled up a chair and sat close to her stroking her hand. "What did he do honey?"
"It hurt. It hurt a lot." She started to cry and Olivia continued to hold her hand until she settled. She needed to ask about the baby, she had to. Every moment that passed was one moment that another child was getting hurt.
"Sydney was there someone else that hurt you? Other than Mr. Jon?" she asked gently.
"Yeah," she whispered.
"Do you know his name?"
"I don't know all of their names," she sobbed.
"How about one name? Anything you remember," she cajoled her.
"Marshall. He hurt me the most," she continued to cry. "Please please don't let them find me." She began to panic and started to thrash around in the bed causing the nurses to come rushing in.
"You're going to have to leave now," one of the nurses yelled.
Olivia was stunned in place watching as they struggled to administer a sedative into Sydney's IV.
"NOW Lieutenant. No more questions for the day."
She left out of the room and stood from the door as she watched the little girl slowly succumb to the sedative and the machines stop beeping as her heart rate returned to normal.
Olivia thought she would be sick at that moment. There was so much more they needed to know from her but she wouldn't push her anymore right now. All she could do was hope and pray another body didn't show up soon.
XXXXX
Olivia spent a few hours at the office interrogating a few of the Harrington family members including Marshall's mom, Harrington's ex-wife who swore she hadn't heard from Marshall over the past few days. He had disappeared after the last interrogation. They decided to keep surveillance on the mother and Harrington's daughter Caroline. She wasn't convinced they knew anything but it was the only thing they had to go on at the moment. Throughout the day she thought about looking at the baby's autopsy report but decided against it. She texted Fin to let him know she would be leaving while he and Rollins were out following up on a few leads.
She walked up to the apartment door around 6pm, a pretty decent hour considering the case. She was tired, hungry and needed to put her feet up. Before she could put her key in the door she heard the ruckus on the other end.
"Hey Liv," Lizzie said when she walked in. Her, Dickie, Lucy and Maureen were gathered around the coffee table playing a board game. "We were wondering when you would get home."
"Well hello there, what are you guys playing?" she asked putting down her badge, gun and bag.
"We are playing Monopoly and Dickwad is cheating as usual. Dad's in the back changing Noah. You want to play?"
Before she could answer Elliot emerged from the back with Noah in his arms. The little boy started to squirm as soon as he saw his mom. She took him from Elliot placing kisses in his hair.
"Oh I missed you so much today," she said and then reached over to Elliot to give him a kiss. "I missed you too."
"Hmmm, I didn't expect you home so early because of the case I thought I would see you later," he said kissing her longer.
"I'm tired and hungry so I thou..."
"Oh no, can you guys give it a rest please? Dad come jump in the game. I'm kicking Liz's ass. She's almost bankrupt," Dickie called from the living room.
"I know you of all people aren't scolding anyone about public affection," Elliot spoke up arching his eyebrow and effectively silencing him.
"Wait what's dad talking about?" Lizzie asked turning all her attention on to them.
Dickie turned back towards the game board, "It's nothing, let's just keep playing."
"Oh I know what he's talking about," Maureen spoke up grinning.
"Dad you told her!" Dickie yelled in disbelief putting down his monopoly money. Lucy was once again blushing but taking it a lot better than her boyfriend.
"Told her what? Somebody tell me!" Lizzie whined.
"Guys guys enough, everyone leave Dickie alone," Olivia intervened holding her arms up to quiet the masses. "It's not that big of a deal it happens to everyone. Let's just play the game and move on. Someone deal me in."
Lucy smiled at her and Dickie gave her a look of gratitude while she took off her shoes, put Noah down and got comfortable.
Elliot smiled at the scene and was thankful that she was able to let go of the day and just enjoy spending time with the children.
"Dinner's almost done and then I'm joining in too," he yelled from the kitchen.
"Don't worry Dickie, I always have your back," she said winking at him. "Speaking of, El before I forget did that package come in today?"
"What package?"
"I ordered a plastic slip cover for the couch for whenever Dickie comes over so he doesn't make a mess."
Dickie's eyes widened and Elliot and Maureen erupted in laughter.
"Oh my god," Lucy said in horror until Olivia started laughing and put her hand on her knee to tell her to lighten up. She eventually joined in with the laughter and put her arms around Dickie's neck to loosen him up as well.
He smiled at Lucy and pulled her closer, "You know Liv. I actually used to like you. My dad and his wicked ways have finally rubbed off on you," he teased.
"Ew that joke better not mean what I think it means," Lizzie frowned and a new round of laughter started.
Olivia watched as Elliot joined the table and they began to play the game together. Lizzie was still frowning at the thought of Dickie and Lucy having sex, Maureen was rubbing her burgeoning belly while Elliot looked on in contentment, Noah was standing near her holding her fake money looking on in delight and Dickie and Lucy were hugging one another plotting their Monopoly revenge.
She could do this, she thought to herself. In her line of the work she would always be caught in two different worlds. But she could manage it. The good and the evil, the pit and the peak, the light and the dark.