Her Boy [A Benson Fan Fic]

Four

With two cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other, Olivia walked into her new apartment. Calvin walked in behind her, a stack of pillows in his arms. 

"Welcome home," Olivia said quietly, as she sat the boxes down on the island in her slightly bigger kitchen.

"Did my stuff get delivered?" Calvin mused, as he tossed the pillows down. Olivia shrugged and pointed towards his bedroom door.

"You can check if you'd like. Casey and Nick were in charge of getting deliveries moved in," Olivia replied. Calvin ran off to his bedroom and swung the door open before gasping. He raced to where his bunk bed had been assembled and his bed had been made.

Olivia leaned against the doorframe and smiled softly. She felt horrible for hurting him, that she wanted to make his stay as good as possible. She may have spoiled him a bit, but she didn't think it would hurt to spoil him a little.

"There are planets on my ceiling!" Calvin exclaimed, as he stared at the ceiling in awe.

"I hope you like this all, Calvin. Uh, why don't I bring your clothes in and then you can put them away?"

"Okay!" Calvin exclaimed. He went straight back to exploring his room as the front door opened. Olivia turned and expected to see Casey, but instead, she found Rafael standing there.

In the last few weeks, they had barely spoken. Rafael worked for Manhattan Narcotics, so their paths rarely crossed. They never texted each other or did video calls anymore. Olivia missed him, but she was certain that she had pushed Rafael away to the point he wouldn't want her anymore.

"Hey there, Liv," Rafael smiled. Olivia blushed softly before giving him a shaky grin.

"What are you doing here?"

"Casey told me you finally got into an apartment. I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help..." Rafael trailed off as he glanced around the room. Most of the living space was filled with boxes that had different rooms scrawled on the sides.

"You don't have to help. I think Calvin and I can manage," Olivia replied. She turned away from Rafael, but stopped when Rafael's hand rested on her hip. She froze in mid-stride as tears burned her eyes.

"I know that you are stressed out and upset, but please don't shove me even further away. Olivia, I told you I still wanted to be with you, even though you ended up with an almost ten-year-old little boy," Rafael breathed. He kissed the back of Olivia's head before leaving her apartment.

She swallowed hard and sighed when she saw Casey.

"You saw the entire thing, huh?"

"Just accept the fact he's a goner when it comes to you," Casey smiled.

"This isn't what he signed up for," Olivia grumbled, as she wandered over to a stack of boxes that were labeled kitchen.

"He literally just told you he wants to be with you. He signed up for Olivia Benson and anything else that comes along the way," Casey sighed.

///

Several boxes still sat in the living room by the time the pizza arrived. Casey, Calvin, and Olivia sat on the lumpy sofa that had followed Olivia to yet another apartment. Calvin was shoving so much pizza in his mouth that he couldn't talk about how excited he was about his room.

"Are you ready to start school tomorrow?" Casey mused, as she came back from the fridge with a bottle of water. Calvin sighed softly and wiped the grease from his mouth with his sleeve. 

"No."

"No? Won't it be fun to meet kids your age instead of hanging out with the squad?" Casey replied. 

Olivia frowned as she looked at Calvin. His expression had darkened, and she knew he was nervous. Not only was he going to be attending for only about three months before summer vacation, he didn't want to be the new kid. He had been the new kid several times before, all thanks to his mother's habits, and he was going to be the new kid once more.

"No one is going to like me. I just don't understand why I can't just drop out," Calvin sighed. 

Olivia reached out and smoothed his brown hair before giving him a small smile.

"You are very likeable, Calvin. Just give everyone a chance, and if push comes to shove, we can find a different school next term. One that is a better fit for you," Olivia spoke. Calvin nodded hesitantly before crumpling up his barely used napkin.

"Can I go play my video game?"

"Yes, until eight. Then you need to take a shower and pack your bag for tomorrow. Got it?" Olivia spoke, sounding more like a mother than she had expected.

"Yes, Liv."

///

The next morning, Olivia woke up earlier than usual to make Calvin breakfast and to pack his lunch. He was such a picky eater that she wanted to make sure he ate something at school instead of buying something and never touching it. 

She woke up Calvin at around six-thirty, before picking out his clothes and making sure he brushed his hair and teeth.

"This is so dumb," Calvin grumbled, as Olivia led him towards his school. She looked down at him before stopping and squatting down in front of him. She wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be okay, but she didn't want to embarrass him in front of his peers.

"I didn't like school either, but you gotta go. I could get in trouble if you don't attend school, and that means you would end up in foster care. We don't want that, right?"

"Well, no-"

"Then try to be optimistic. I'm sure there are boys and girls in your class that will want to be your friends. And tonight, if you make it through the day, we can celebrate with laser tag with Nick and probably Amanda."

"Can you throw in Fin and Casey too? I'd really like to chase Casey down," Calvin grinned. Olivia laughed softly and nodded as she caressed his hair.

"I'll order everyone to play laser tag with us tonight. Do we have a deal?" Olivia mused. Calvin thought for a moment before nodding. He quickly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Olivia's neck before squeezing tightly.

"Have a good day at work, Liv," He breathed.

"And you have a good day at school, buddy."