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

Twenty-Three

Maureen was in tears as she looked between her father and his girlfriend.

"Liv." Elliot frowned as he watched a tear slip down Maureen's cheek.

"My baby... my rules." Olivia breathed, as she pulled her legs up and tried to protect Cleo with as much of her body as possible. Maureen started to really cry, and she didn't want Olivia nor her father to see the tears so she quickly turned around and walked from the room.

"Maureen!" Elliot exclaimed, as he stood up and ran from the room. He got to his daughter's side as she requested the elevator.

"Dad, go back and be with Olivia," Maureen whispered.

"Honey, she's not being like this on purpose. After everything she-"

"I know what she's been through, Dad. I was the only one old enough to be told what Chris was doing to her. I was the one that would sit on the stairs in the basement and listen to her scream at night because she was so terrified of what might happen. But she's known me for years... she's never been like this with me so it's a little hard. I'm going to go home... I just have to get my bag from the house and head over to Mom's." Maureen breathed. She stepped into the elevator once the doors opened before requesting the lobby.

"Mo, she'll get better," Elliot spoke quickly.

"No, she won't. She'll never be the Liv that used to be your best friend... my aunt... because now she's your girlfriend and that baby you are adopting won't even be allowed to be held by her siblings."

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Elliot walked back into Olivia's room and found her still clinging to Cleo. Elliot swallowed hard before moving over and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"We need to talk." Elliot breathed.

"I'm okay," Olivia whispered.

"Honey, Maureen has always been the one child of mine that you have clicked with completely. You trusted her to watch Michaela and Julia. You can trust her to hold Cleo and really get to know her brand new baby sister."

"This is different," Olivia replied.

"No, this isn't diff-"

"Cleo isn't Michaela and Julia. She is new and I can't allow her to get sick or hurt. She's my baby, and if I don't want her-"

"Olivia, I'm Elliot Stabler. Your best friend for over ten years. I was the one that drove through a horrible storm to get to your house to help you have Julia. I was the one who got to your side after Chris tried to kill you. I may not have really noticed that you were getting abused, but I was always there for you. I'm not Chris. I'm not the guy that hurt you for years. I'm not the man that was angry because you kept having little girls. Olivia, I'm the one that has and will always take care of you. I'm Cleo's Daddy... and as soon as Julia is feeling more confident I'll be her and Michaela's Daddy too. I can't force you to be ready, and I can't force you to let my kids hold Cleo... but... never mind." Elliot frowned. 

He stood and walked over to the chair he had been occupying for hours. He settled back and used his jacket to cover himself up and he closed his eyes.

"But what?" Olivia whispered.

"You are just going to do what you want to do, honey. You've always been that way. No matter how many times I told you not to do something because you could have lost your job, you still went and did it. So I'm going to get some sleep. You can spend some time with Cleo and think. If you need me, just say something to me. Call me a dick, asshole, piece of shit. I answer to all of those."

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For two days, Elliot stayed at the hospital and spent time with Cleo and Olivia. He never did get to hold his newest daughter, but he didn't bring it up. On the day Olivia and Cleo got released, it was also the first day of Julia's therapy. Maureen took her and waited outside of the room while her soon to be little sister was talking through her emotions.

"Hi, Julia. So I'm Sharon. I'm a doctor and I'm going to be helping you. Are you okay with that?" Sharon asked, and Julia nodded slowly as she sat at a table and drew quietly.

"Honey, can you tell me about your family?" 

"Uh... I have a Mama... Two sisters... my Daddy is in heaven." Julia breathed.

"Do you believe that the Stabler kids aren't your siblings?" Sharon asked quietly.

"They are my siblings... but my last name doesn't change until the adoption." Julia sighed.

"So, can you tell me about your Daddy? The one in heaven."

"Mama doesn't like talking about him." 

"It's okay. Your Mama won't know what we are talking about in here." Sharon replied.

"My Daddy... I miss him a lot."

"Yeah? What do you miss about him?"

"His hugs mostly..." Julia sighed softly.

"Did he give you lots of hugs?"

"No... probably once a week... once a month."

"But when he did hug you, they were nice hugs?" Sharon smiled gently.

"Yeah," Julia spoke.

"Is there something you don't miss about him?"

"The way he used to hit my Mama. The way he used to yell at her when she didn't kiss him or bring him something to drink... when she found out that she had a baby in her belly-"

"I thought that no one knew about your new baby sister until after your Daddy went to heaven?"

"The one before." Julia breathed. 

"The one before?" Sharon asked.

"Yeah. Last year, Mama's belly got all big. Then it got small again. I heard Mama talk to Daddy about the baby going to heaven... Daddy's taking care of her right now."

"Why do you think that your Daddy would want you to be sad? To not get adopted?" Sharon asked gently, as she scrawled down notes quickly.

"Because he didn't like it when Michaela and I laughed. When we smiled. He wanted us to be sad, so he wouldn't get annoyed. It's the same now. He doesn't want us to be happy, because he doesn't want to be annoyed."