Bruised, Battered, and In Tears [ A Benson Fan Fic]

Fifteen

It took longer than just a day to read through all of the files that were presented in the custody case. Judge Linden wanted to be absolutely certain that who she picked would be the absolute best option for all three girls. She was already leaning towards Olivia, but things can change. 

"Still nothing?" Maureen asked as she and her father sat together in the kitchen. Elliot was helping Maureen study for her English exam, and it also gave them time to talk.

"About the kids?" Elliot replied.

"Yeah. Why hasn't Judge Linden decided yet? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Maureen sighed. Elliot looked up from the list of vocab words before sighing softly.

"No matter how many cases I have seen... you never know what will happen. Judge Linden might decide that Bonnie gets the kids because Olivia did pull the trigger, or she may pick Olivia because Bonnie abused Chris and might abuse the girls."

"She shouldn't have even been able to file for custody of the girls. Like, Cleo isn't even here yet.  Like, how can she get custody of an unborn baby?" Maureen huffed.

"Mo... I know that you and your siblings have a lot invested in this since Michaela, Julia, and Cleo are going to be your sisters. But I don't want you to worry about this. It's your junior year. You need to focus on passing these exams and what you want to do this summer. Because before you know it, you are going to be a senior and have so many more things to think and worry about." Elliot spoke. 

"But-" Maureen started, but the front door opened and they both stood to check in on Olivia.

"Anything yet?" Elliot asked, and Olivia shook her head.

"Nothing... Trevor is just waiting to find out. He'll call us if he finds out what is happening." Olivia spoke. She moved to her boyfriend and kissed him before gently hugging Maureen. She turned back around and headed towards the stairs.

"We have leftovers if you want them." Elliot breathed, and Olivia just shook her head.

"All I want to do is sleep."

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Nearly two weeks went by before Judge Linden called everyone back together. But this time she asked for Michaela and Julia to join them. She took about two hours to talk to the girls and get to know them and see what they wanted, but she walked out to talk to the courtroom full of anxious people. Bonnie even seemed worried about what Judge Linden was going to say.

"Thank you all for being patient during this time. I wanted to make sure that I made the right choice. That I made sure Michaela, Julia, and Cleo are placed with the right person for them. I looked through all of the files and saw many things that scared me. I saw that Mrs. Morris abused her son while he was younger, and the child protective services file showed me that. I also saw Olivia Benson's file from when she was younger. I read that she was abused, but there has never been a file made for her children through CPS."

"Your honor!" Bonnie yelled, and Judge Linden just held up her hand.

"I have heard enough from you, Mrs. Morris. I have heard from your granddaughters, and they have told me that their mother has never hit them. That she always protected them from your son. Abuse runs in families, yet Olivia hasn't abused her children as your son tried to. So, from now on, Olivia Benson will have full custody of her children. It is her choice to allow you to be in the girls' lives or not. But this custody agreement will not be addressed again. And Mr. Stabler, I now give you the green light to start proceeding in the adoption of Michaela, Julia, and Cleo." Judge Linden spoke.

Tears streamed down Olivia's cheeks as she quickly turned around and hugged her boyfriend over the divider.

"We did it, baby... We made it through weeks of just waiting, and now we have the girls. For good." Elliot breathed as he held his girlfriend close.

"I can't wait to tell the girls."

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All of the kids were excited to find out the good news. They celebrated that night, and Kathy even attended. And as soon as everything calmed down that night, Olivia was back to filling out the adoption forms. She wanted to get things done before Cleo was born because then she could just write Elliot's name on her birth certificate.

But there were still a lot of things that had to be done. Like more interviews. The girls had to talk about if they wanted to be adopted, and Elliot's other kids had to agree too. It was a huge process, one that might take well into the last months of Olivia's pregnancy and into the first month or so of Cleo's life.

"Babe?" Elliot yawned, as he opened the door to their shared office.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Olivia questioned from where she sat with the open binder in front of her.

"I can ask you the same thing, my love. Uh, mind coming up to bed?" Elliot asked, and Olivia sighed before standing slowly.

"You should know that if I go upstairs right now, I'll be back down in half an hour to continue doing all this paperwork while you sleep. And snore." Olivia spoke. Elliot walked around the desk and wrapped his arms around Olivia's swollen waist.

"Olivia, I know that you want to get this done before something else can happen... but these girls are ours. No one can take them from us. So if we wait a few days to continue filling these out, it won't be a big deal. Everything will happen when it needs to happen." Elliot breathed gently. 

Olivia nodded slowly before snaking her arms around his neck and smiling at him.

"I love you so much, Elliot."

"I love you too, Olivia. Now, let's go to bed." Elliot breathed. He leaned close and kissed Olivia softly before finally managing to get her to leave the home office and get some sleep.

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