Alaskan Nights (A Law and Order: SVU fanfic)

Ch. 8

Note: David Haden comes in on this chap still season 12 based though. :)

Elliot couldn't count on all of his fingers and toes the amount of times that Olivia had yawned in the last fifteen minutes. Each flip of a page was accompanied by a new yawn or stretch. He wanted to ask her why she was so tired or tell her she should go lie down, but he was still mad at her... Well, truth is he was not mad at her. No. He just wanted to know if he had been dreaming all these years of a relationship that was not to be. Whether or not he misjudged the signs and she actually did not love him. He wanted to know if he was just another one night stand to her or something deeper and more meaningful.

As one ended another one started, she whispered a barely audible 'sorry' each time she yawned. Probably out of habit, "You should go lie down," he whispered as she covered her mouth once more.

Her eyes shot up in his direction mid-yawn. They were wide and he imagines it was because he hadn't heard his voice the entire day, not. A. Word. Heck, he barely looked at her all day unless he had to.

"I'm fine, thanks for the concern though."

"Liv, are yo-"

Just then her phone started to ring, not her office phone, but her cellphone which a rare occurrence during the day. She slid her draw open, pulled out her handbag and fished for her phone. Elliot watched as she ever so slowly picked it out of her bag and finally she answered it.

"Hello?... Yes, this is she...Oh god I forgot! Yeah, I have my clothes right here," she flicked her wrist then checked her watch," damn, I didn't realize it was that late, Give me five minutes and I'll meet you... Okay...bye."
She basically flung the phone onto her desk and made a mad dash to the back. Seconds later she reappeared only to snatch her handbag from the desk.

"Liv!" Elliot shouted after her.
"Not now Elliot." She shouted back as she disappeared once more.

He contemplated going to the cribs to see what she was doing but he knew that she would kick him out on his ass if he did. So he decided to at least try to go back to work... But was she going to meet someone? She said she had her clothes... clothes for what? A date? Is she dating someone? Then why did she-

"Stop racking your brains Stabler...you're gonna hurt yourself," teased fin.

"What?" Elliot tinged.

"If I know you at all...then right this very moment you're trying to figure out what that call was about," he laughed as he replaced his present file into the cabinet.
"I'm not."
"Yeah...okay, lemme save you some brain cells...she's going to a party with some guy from the DA's office...real hotshot,"

Elliot rose from his seat, walked over to the coffee stand and poured himself a pot," a party this early?" He checked his watch," it's only three-thirty...what's this guy's name?"
"Well," fin nodded toward Olivia's now occupied seat." Why don't you ask Mr ADA himself?"

"ADA?" Elliot mouthed to fin as he walked away.
"ADA." Fin mouthed back.

He took a sip of his coffee and grimaced at the black, sluggish liquid in which munch had made," hey, do you need some help?" He chimed in his most friendly voice to the man who sat comfortably in his partner's seat with two pictures of her frames in his hands.

"Uh.." He glanced up at Elliot then back at picture in his left hand." You're..-"

"Elliot."
"Right, right, Elliot," the man stood from the chair and outstretched his hand." David Haden, nice to meet ya." Elliot shook his hand and offered him a nice-to-me-you-but-get-the-fuck-out smile.

He couldn't help but wonder about Olivia's relation to this man. Was he her boyfriend? A friend? A lover? His stare was locked on David. They stood there in awkward silence as the squad room around them continued to buzz with life. Sensing the tension David joked," leave it to Liv to say five minutes and mean twenty." Elliot didn't laugh except he analyzed the new information given to him.

He knew her well enough to call her by her nickname and he knew that she was one of the slowest dressers in the history of God's green earth. So that means that they had dated- or are dating. Then how didn't he know?

"Looking good, Liv!" A male voice shouted from the back. Elliot turned toward the voice but by then everyone was whistling and offering compliments... Then he saw her. It was as if the heavens had opened up and the Angels sang as she entered. Her hair was loosely pulled into a very messy bun but neither the less she was stunning. She wore the same blue dress he had watched drop to her bedroom floor more than a month ago that night of the awards.

She was just beautiful.
He knew she had caught his gawking because out of habit she ran a lock of her hair behind her ear- a piece of hair that wasn't there, and smiled down at the floor. Or was she smiling for David... Hell, he didn't care.

God, he loved her quirks.
"I love that dress," Elliot smirked as she passed by.
"Can it," she laughed.

"Wait, wait hold up, what's this gotta do with the fight? Everything seems diddy to me..."
"That's because I'm not finished, my dear," she yawned.

"Skip forward...please," Rebecca smiled.

"Okay, um...so I had the weekend off- a very rare occurrence, so after the wedding, David dropped me home I slept till Saturday evening... I was so sick and so tired, and that's when I remembered the test... Elliot had called me earlier... but I wasn't in the mood to talk,"

"The pregnancy test?"
"No, my SAT's...yes the pregnancy test!" Rebecca just smiled and nudged her lightly.

"You may continue."
"So kind of you."

•

Olivia sat on the edge of her bathtub with her head between her knees. It had been five minutes since she had peed on the stick that would ultimately decide her future and she was too scared to look. It scared her that in a second her life might change, responsibilities might be automatically appointed to her, the conversation will have to be carried out, she might become a mother and Elliot- a father- once more.

She pushed aside the new way of nausea that plagued her and in one swoop she grabbed both tests. With the tests in hand and her eyes open she slowly turned over the tests.

"Damn... No, Olivia this is a good thing... A happy thing," she tried to convince herself," a good thing."

She clinched the tests tightly as she slid onto the floor. She was in shock, yes, she knew there was a chance but she didn't actually think-
Was she ready for a baby? Was she ready for a baby with Elliot?

One time....! Is all it takes...

She wasn't angry and she wasn't sad, she was just shocked...and scared. Scared of what Elliot would think. Scared if he would blame her. God, how was she gonna tell-

"Olivia!" An all too familiar voice boomed muffled from the other side of the bathroom door. "Liv?" He was closer now. "You okay?"