Olivia Benson's Niece

Untitled Part 24

"You're cheating, Rae!" shouted Olivia throwing her stack of cards down in between her gaped legs.

"Am not. I'm just good at this."

"I saw your sneaky little self take that card from Elliot's hand. I'm not stupid."

Rae blushed having been caught but knowing no one would do anything.

They were all sat on the living room floor playing UNO together when there was a knock at the door. Olivia looked at her watch and then up at everyone. "It's nine o'clock at night."

Elliot and Rae shrugged simultaneously.

"I'll get it," said Elliot. He stood up and groaned as his knees popped. Elliot looked through the peep hole and took a step back. Were his eyes fooling him? He looked again and called whispered for Olivia to come over. She peeped through the hole and then opened it stepping into the hallway and closing the door behind her.

"Simon," she breathed. There he stood, right in front of her with a smile on his face and holding a bouquet of yellow flowers. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for Rae."

No way. No freaking way. "Excuse me?"

"I'm here for Rae. I told her I'd come back for her. I just needed some time."

"You're not taking her."

"Olivia she's my daughter, not yours!"

"She doesn't have to be mine! I-" Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose. "Nuh-uh. You broke that girl and I've done everything in my power to help her and now that I've put her back together, you're not taking her."

"She deserves to be home with me!"

"Home?" she scoffed. "Home? Where you let random women-"

Olivia was cut off by Elliot who had stepped out protectively placing his hand on the small of her back instantly calming Olivia and taking a slight step in front of her. He straightened his posture and squared his shoulders standing his ground. No one would hurt Olivia. Nobody said anything out of line to her. Nobody came to her apartment and threatened to take anything away. He was her protector. Elliot looked back and forth between the two and then fixated his eyes on Simon. "Is there a problem?"

"It's fine," whispered Olivia nearly on the verge of tears. She knew this would happen some day. She had expected it, lived in fear of this very moment every day since she'd gotten attached to Rae.

"Look can I just get my daughter back or-" Simon attempted to push in between but Elliot, like a rock didn't budge and gave him a light push that sent him stumbling back.

"Hey you son of a-"

"El." Olivia placed her hand on Elliot's bicep and looked him in the eyes begging him to not turn this into an altercation. He visibly relaxed and Olivia stepped forward not afraid to hold her ground. "Simon you don't come to my apartment this late at night demanding anything. You haven't attempted to contact that child since you dropped her off eight months ago and you think she wants to go home with you? You're nuts."

The door opened again but this time it was Rae. She stepped into the hallway barefoot and dressed in her pajamas. She furrowed her brow and stepped forward unable to believe it was her dad standing in front of her. She honestly didn't know if she'd ever see him again. "Daddy?"

"Rae," he smiled. "You look so... so different. So.. happy and beautiful."

"Yeah, well." She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one foot. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to take you home."

She squinted her eyes at him and Oliva smirked knowing Simon was in for a treat. No way would she allow anyone to boss her around. "I am home."

"But Rae-"

"Look, man," Elliot interjected. "Go home for now. Come to the precinct tomorrow and we'll figure all this out, okay?"

Simon nodded and slowly backed away. "This isn't over, Olivia."

*

"Elliot," Olivia whispered not sure if he was sleeping. She lifted her head a little and looked to his side of the bed not able to see much due to the darkness of the room. "El," she called again giving his arm a slight nudge and he groaned.

"What's up babe? I'm up." He flipped in to his side to face her and draped an arm around her stomach running his thumb over the soft skin where her T-shirt failed to meet her underwear. He could sense something was wrong and if his intuition served him correctly it was about Rae. "Talk to me."

"I can't let him take her."

"Liv that's not gonna happen."

"He's gonna take me to court."

"And no judge in his right mind would send her with him. He proved that he's not worthy eight months ago. You called Barba, right?"

"Yeah. He's gonna see what he can do."

"Good. Just trust him." He heard Olivia sigh and then pulled her as close as their bodies would allow. "I know you're thinking about what happened with Calvin. I know you're uncomfortable with this whole process but did you really expect Simon to stay away?"

She felt the lump rising in the back of her throat.  "No."

"You love her, right?"

"You know I do."

"Then you fight for her. Don't let her go like you let Calvin go."

"Elliot," scolded Olivia.

"Don't let her go like you let Calvin go," he repeated sternly knowing exactly what she needed to hear. He wasn't going to beat around the bush. "You fight, you go at Simon with all you've got. The squad, Barba, me, Rae... We all know how much you mean to each other and we'll all fight before we let you two are busted up."

Olivia nodded into Elliot's chest. "Okay. I get it." They both shared a moment of silence the she took a deep breath and slowly let it out knowing this conversation would come about sooner or later. "El?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't have kids. Ever."

He furrowed his brow and slightly parted his lips knowing that Olivia couldn't see him. He made long soothing strokes along her back and held her.

"Tighter."

Elliot tightened his grip on her. "Okay?"

"Okay." They shared a moment of silence again, Olivia allowing her tears to spill over and Elliot not wanting to push her to tell anymore than what she wanted. He knew that the one thing she'd always wanted was a child of her own... multiple even but there was never a right time. Of course she'd tried but there'd always been one reason or another.

"I can't have kids, Elliot," she repeated through sobs.

"If it's because you're forty six then-"

"Its because of Lewis."

"I thought you said he didn't-"

"Not like that. He beat me. He messed up my uterus and I had to have a total hysterectomy."

"I am so, so sorry, baby."

"He took the last thing I hoped for in this life. He just... he took it from me. Took my sanity, my self esteem, my self worth... Lewis took everything from me."

"No he didn't baby." Elliot pressed a kiss to her temple and held her as she let the tears escape. He didn't know what to say to her because he was a father of four and couldn't possibly imagine what she was going through. "I'm here with you," he whispered. "And I'm not going anywhere."