We Know What You Did

14: Opening Up

Sonny gently placed his hand on Chelsea's shoulder. After their walk, Chelsea was exhausted so Sonny had her lay down in the bunks.
"Chels" Sonny whispered. The girl tiredly opened her eyes and sat up. "We arrested him." Sonny told her with a big smile.
Chelsea hugged her uncle. "What now?"
"Well," Sonny began. "It depends if Tyler pleads guilty. If so, he'll be arraigned and sentenced. If he tries to claim he isn't guilty, our ADA will go after him and make sure he gets put away for a long time." Chelsea nodded and stared and her lap. "You, ok?" Sonny asked.
Chelsea nodded. "I thought I'd be more relieved but I'm actually..." she paused. "Never mind."
"Hey, talk to me." Sonny put his hand under Chelsea's chin and tilted her head so they were making eye contact.
"I said forget it." Chelsea sounded agitated and pulled away from her uncle. Sonny sighed. He didn't want to push her but knew she needed to talk.
"C'mon, there's someone you need to meet, then I thought we could head back to my place, I can make Nonna's pasta, and we can hang out the rest of the night." Sonny suggested. Chelsea didn't say anything but got up and followed her uncle to Olivia's office. Sonny knocked on the door before entering.
Olivia was sitting at her desk, across from Rafael. "Hey guys" she stood up. "Chelsea, this is Mr. Barba, he'll be the ADA prosecuting the case."
Rafael stood up to shake the girl's hand. "Nice to meet you, Chelsea" he said kindly. Chelsea smiled back. Rafael explained the next steps in prosecuting Tyler.
———
After finishing up at the precinct, Sonny and Chelsea went home. As Sonny had suggested, he made his mother's pasta recipe. He sat across from Chelsea and watched as she twirled the food around on her plate, only taking a few bites.
"I know it's not Nonna's but it isn't that bad," Sonny joked.
Chelsea smirked. "It's actually better than Nonna's." She sighed. "I'm just not very hungry."
"Maybe later then, huh?" Sonny looked at his niece. Chelsea put down her fork and shrugged. Sonny started clearing the table. As he was washing the dishes, he watched Chelsea from the corner of his eye. She was staring blankly at the wall in front of her. Once everything was cleaned up, he sat back down. "Alright, out with it." Chelsea looked at her uncle quizzically. "What's bugging you?" Sonny elaborated.
"Friday's the tenth" Chelsea murmured. Sonny nodded. Friday was May tenth. A year ago on that day, Renee Carisi passed away. "I'm so mad at her and I feel terrible for that because I miss her so much."
"What are you mad about?" Sonny asked, thankful Chelsea was starting to open up.
"I'm mad she stayed with him. For so many years. She let me love him and trust him. And then she left me with him. She just... gave me to him."
Sonny leaned forward, "Chelsea, your mom loved you very much, you know that. It isn't easy to get out of an abusive relationship. Your mom only wanted what was best for you. She would never have intentionally put you in a situation where you would be hurt."
"But she did!" Chelsea exclaimed. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Tyler had been beating me and what not for a while but he only... you know... after I accused him of treating me like mom. I can only assume he did the same thing to mommy." Chelsea choked on her tears. "She knew what he was and she left me in his care." She wiped away the few tears that rolled down her face.
Sonny sighed. He wasn't sure what to say. He had so many questions for his sister that he would never get to ask. The biggest one being why she never told him what was going on. He also felt guilty that he never saw the signs. He questioned whether or not he ignored subtle behaviors or his sister just was really good at hiding them. Either way, his baby sister was abused by her husband for years and now his niece had become a victim. "I wish I had answers for you, but I don't." Sonny told her truthfully. "I wish she had told me and I could've stopped him, but she didn't. All we know is that your mom loved you and cared about you. She couldn't see the future. Don't blame her for what Tyler did."
Chelsea nodded but didn't speak. After a few moments of silence, the two retreated to the couch and turned on a movie. Half way through the film, Chelsea fell asleep. Sonny gently roused her and guided her to the guest room.
"Good night, Seabug" Sonny whispered as he turned off the light and closed the door.
———
The next morning, the SVU squad was at the precinct, taking care of administrative work.
Midday, Rafael entered the squad room and marched into Olivia's office. He was clearly upset, which caught the attention of the other detectives who, out of curiosity, followed him.
"What's going on?" Amanda asked as she, Fin, and Sonny entered the room.
"Tyler is pleading not guilty due to psychological distress." Rafael clenched his teeth in frustration.
All the detectives were surprised and angered. "How?" Olivia finally asked.
"He was not thinking clearly since it was so close to the anniversary of his wife's death." Rafael scoffed.
"No jury is going to buy that though, right?" Sonny asked.
Rafael shrugged. "I sure hope not."