Partners For Life [A Bensler FanFic]

Nine

Elliot was defiantly shocked by what he saw, but he didn't know how to approach it. So he sat down at the kitchen table and kept staring to see if he and Olivia both were seeing things. 

"Liv?" Elliot asked weakly once he finally decided to talk to her.

"I'm beating myself up enough for the both of us, so please don't say anything... I'll just start crying again." Olivia whispered as she stayed facing the wall.

"What are we going to do? Because honestly, it will be hard for us to hide the fact we slept together once you get super pregnant." Elliot frowned.

"Let's just pretend that it isn't yours. I'll go back to my apartment and I guess I'll give it up for adoption. No one needs to know." Olivia sniffled as she wiped tears from her cheeks.

"This is our baby we are talking about, Liv. It's not just an old sweater that you can donate to Goodwill. It's our baby... and I don't want you to give it up." Elliot replied as he walked over to Olivia's bed before rolling her over onto her back so he could look at her face.

"You don't want me, Elliot Stabler. I don't even think that you care about me anymore, especially since you haven't really talked to me since the night we made this... this thing. You won't even tell me about the phone call or if you ended up finalizing your divorce. It's like you used me, and I'm so beyond tired of getting used. So maybe I will just leave. We can just pretend that this didn't happen. You have enough on your plate, anyway." Olivia whimpered, before pushing herself up and moving to the boxes she had been living out of.

She started to dig for a sweatshirt, when Elliot came up behind her and placed his hands to her waist.

"The call was from Kathy. She didn't tell me much about what was happening or where she was. She just wanted to make sure that I got the papers, and she begged me to just sign them and let her go. So I have been struggling with that. How on the night you and I finally gave in to our feelings, was the night my wife called me.  My ex wife."

"I still really don't think that you are ready to move on, or have the huge responsibility of having another kid. Especially with someone who you probably would never spend your life with. So just let me go. Deal with the kids you already have, and I'll just fuck this one up by myself." Olivia spat.

///

Olivia went back to her apartment that night, taking all of her items with her. When the kids got up the next morning, the house felt empty and as if Kathy had just left them again.

"Where's Liv?" Maureen asked as soon as she and her siblings walked into the kitchen. 

Elliot was sitting at the kitchen table, but there wasn't any breakfast waiting for the kids. He had gotten caught up in thinking about his conversation with Olivia, and he was worried that he just completely destroyed what they might have. That he might never see his kid, because he ignored its mother for over a month.

"Uh, she went back to her apartment last night." Elliot frowned.

"Like, just for a break... right? Not for good?" Kathleen questioned, and Elliot shrugged from his spot.

"I don't know. But we will be okay until she decides to come back. Or even if she doesn't come back." Elliot sighed. He stood up before walking over to the fridge and grabbing the milk. He turned around and looked at his kids before frowning deeply.

"Are you okay with cereal? Because we really have nothing else, Liv was going to shop last night, but I had her go to the parent-teacher conferences instead."

"Did you do something to her? Because she promised to not leave us, Dad." Maureen huffed.

"Kids-" Elliot started, but his kids didn't listen to them. They all stood and went back to their rooms, as they wondered if their father had pushed Olivia away just like their mother.

///

Elliot dropped the kids off at school early, before heading into the precinct. He made it into the squadroom and let out a small sigh of relief when he saw Olivia at her desk.

"Hey, Liv." Elliot breathed.

"Stabler." Olivia replied coldly, as she kept her eyes down.

"Are you doing okay?"

"We don't have to talk. You know what, maybe I'll ask for a transfer. Then we don't have to pretend to like each other."

"I like you, Liv." Elliot said with a small smile, but it wasn't convincing Olivia. She was so sure that this all was a mistake, and nothing could change her mind.

"Just leave me-"

"The kids miss you already, Olivia. They think that I pushed you away. The house feels empty without you there, and I honestly think they love your cooking more than mine. And we both suck at cooking." Elliot sighed, as he sat on the edge of Olivia's desk and gently touched her chin. He tilted her head up so they could look into each other's eyes, and Elliot saw the tears that Olivia had been fighting.

"I just don't know what we are going to do, El. I'm just so scared that maybe we won't work out. That I'll lose you because we decided to sleep together... and of course the first time it happened I got knocked up. So you gotta figure out what you want, and how you will approach this with the kids. And until then, I'll just live my life while you figure out yours." Olivia sniffled, before pushing her chair back as she heard the elevator ding.

"Where are you going?" Elliot asked, as his eyes went wide.

"To make things less complicated, I'm going to ask for a transfer. Maybe it'll be permanent or temporary. Either way, it's gotta happen."

///

Olivia finished her shift at SVU, before packing up her desk to head to Computer Crimes. Elliot watched as she packed everything up, before heading home without her. It hurt, because he missed driving her home and talking about everything that happened. Now he had to go home alone and decide how he planned on telling the kids that Olivia was pregnant and that the baby was their sibling.