Cassidy [A SVU Fan Fic]

Thirty-Six

Olivia laid in bed beside her husband the night they found out about their daughter. She was wide awake and she didn't know why. She tried to think if it was because she was so excited about Annie, or if she was still scared about sending Joey off for his second day of school in the morning. But as her husband continued to snore quietly beside her, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was really off. She climbed out of bed and grabbed her phone before quietly padding from their room and checking on the boys.

As she was walking down the stairs, her phone started to ring. She quickly finished walking down the stairs before answering the call.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Olivia? It's Bernie Stabler." Bernie replied.

"Oh, hey. Is everything okay? It's late." Olivia replied quietly.

"I know, and I'm sorry about that. It's just that I was wondering how you were doing, and how my grandsons are." Bernie replied.

"Are you going to tell Elliot?" Olivia questioned with a sigh.

"I'm going to tell his therapist. I don't tell Elliot things that you don't want him to know. But I really do want to know how Joey's first day of school was."

"He has made a lot of friends already. When we went and got him, a bunch of parents gave me their numbers so our kids could have playdates." Olivia replied as she sank down into Brian's chair.

"He was really accepting of me coming into his life randomly, so I'm not surprised that he made a lot of friends." Bernie laughed softly, as Olivia pulled the blanket off the back of the chair and draped it over her legs before resting her hand against her stomach.

"How is he?" Olivia asked, hesitantly.

"He's okay. He's accepting what he did... and he's really understanding what his father did to him, and how that affected him."

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked quietly.

"Elliot was talking to me about what he did to you, and how whenever you fought he could hear his father's voice in his head. My Joseph was telling Elliot to put you in your place, to not let you do anything that you were doing. Elliot got raised in a home where Joseph was the leader, and I was just his helpmate. I cleaned and cooked, but in your house for the longest time you were equals and Joseph would have freaked out if he had lived long enough to see that." Bernie replied.

"I like being married, Bernie. I liked being married to Elliot and staying at home with my boys, but I also liked working. I know that most families have two parents that work, and I wish he would have let me work because I was happy when I did."

"Elliot is sick, Liv. He was brainwashed when he was younger, and he is finally starting to work through it all. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I think that once Elliot is out of prison... that he will be good enough to be a real father to his sons and to apologize to you for hurting you horribly."

"I have to go to bed, Bernie. I'm sorry..."

"Liv-"

"If he had been so easily controlled by his father, even though his father had been gone for so long... I don't want that to happen to my boys either. Not now. Not later."

+++

"Babe, it's time to get up," Brian spoke after he turned the alarm off. He shifted closer to his wife and kissed her shoulder gently, before wrapping his arms around her swollen midsection. But his wife seemed to be sleeping very deeply.

"Liv." Brian breathed again, before kissing her jaw gently which shook her awake.

"What?" She yawned, as she ran her hands over his.

"It's time to get up. Did you not hear the alarm?" He asked, and she shook her head before shifting so his front was against her back. She felt his arms tighten around her a bit before she closed her eyes to go back to sleep.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Brian asked because whenever their alarm goes off she's usually the first out of bed. He works from home, so she eats breakfast then goes to work while he gets the kids to school.

"I'm not going to work today. I'm staying at home. I already called Cragen." Olivia replied as she tried to fall back asleep.

"When? What's happening?" Brian asked, worry lacing his voice.

"I was up all night because I was worried or something. Bernie called me late last night and we talked and she thinks that I should let Elliot spend time with the kids after he is released."

"And I agree with you when I'm assuming you said no," Brian replied, and Olivia nodded slowly.

"I did say no because it's stupid. Just because he was raised a certain way, doesn't mean that he had to follow that way. I'm going to get up and shower then make breakfast for the boys." Olivia sighed, as she slipped from his embrace and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Lay back down, Liv. I'll take care of the boys. I'll make you breakfast and serve it to you in bed if you need me too." Brian spoke, as he sat up and slide over the blankets and to where she sat. He ran his hand over her back and he felt as her body relaxed.

"I just don't want our children to get hurt again, Bri. I don't want the boys to think that how I was treated is the proper way to treat women." Olivia whispered, before she raised her hands to her face and started to sob into them.

"We just need to be thankful that I came back to you and I can help you sort out the bad qualities that Elliot left behind for the boys to learn from, and teach them how it really is to be a man. They are going to have a baby sister soon, and they will have practice treating her and you well."

"They will be good men... right? Good fathers and husbands?" Olivia asked.

"If you and I have anything to do with it, they will be gentlemen," Brian spoke. He drew his wife close again before helping her lay down. He covered her up and kissed her temple gently before leaving the bedroom.

He wished that she told him when she was worrying. Because then she wouldn't bottle everything up until the point where she can't sleep.

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