Chapter 1

So many things had changed in the last 2 years of Detective Olivia Benson's life. Nothing was the same, some changes for the better, while others were a little harder to deal with.

To begin with Elliot had turned in his papers and left SVU all together. After 12 years of partnership, this one hit Olivia hard. 12 years of rapes, murders, crime after crime, endless cups of coffee, stake-outs, and catching countless perps, they would no longer be Stabler and Benson. She was just Benson.

Although it took a while to adjust, eventually Olivia got used to having a new partner. Nick Amaro was a good guy, a good cop. He wasn't quite Elliot, but he did his job and he had her back, there wasn't much else she could ask for. Amanda Rollins, a cop from Georgia, had also joined the squad. She had been partnered with Fin. As far as the group was concerned they all worked quite well together and they got the job done.

Adding to the changes to the team, Sergeant John Munch had decided that after years of sex crimes, assaults, and missing children, it was time to hang up his badge. His decision had affected Olivia more than she thought it would. Although she had never been partnered with Munch, he had been there from day one. He was the only person left on the team that had been with Olivia all 14 years and she truly missed him. Although they stayed in contact, it wasn't quite the same as seeing him every day in the squad room.

The biggest change, though, had been Olivia's own assault. William Lewis was a sadistic, evil man. After arresting him for multiple rapes, he was let out on bail and as a way to get revenge he went after Olivia. For 4 days, Lewis tortured and beat Olivia, holding her hostage. Finally, though, she managed to get the upper hand and escape the situation. And although she had gotten out of the situation, the effects were ever-lasting. The images would replay in her head, haunting her like a never-ending nightmare. Nothing was the same. For a long time no one saw the Liv they had known for years. She didn't have the same spunk, the same drive. But slowly it was coming back, the light in her eyes, the never-ending need to help victims, and her pure compassion. The therapy sessions with Dr. Lindstrom were helping a lot, but it would take a long time before the flashbacks would stop and for Olivia to fully gain back control of her life.

Through all of this, Olivia felt incredibly blessed to finally have a boyfriend, a support system. Brian Cassidy had been in SVU when Olivia first started, he had eventually transferred out by the end of her first year, but the two had re-entered each other's lives during a case. Liv had never thought she would find someone to settle down with. But here they were living in a lovely new apartment, the two of them together. They had discussed marriage a little bit but neither were in any big hurry. The two had, though, talked about children. Both of them wanted kids, Brian as nearly as much as Liv. They were very seriously considering adoption. They had even taken the time to research it and read all the brochures the adoption agency had to offer. Olivia, who had been turned down before, figured that now, because there were two of them with stable jobs and incomes, they could finally start a family.

But it was looking like adoption wasn't really going to be necessary. Because just when she thought there couldn't be anymore twists, just when she thought everything was settling down and going, some-what, back to normal, life threw another curve ball at the detective. And this one, this one was something no one ever expected. This wasn't even something anybody could have imagined.

All of the symptoms had been there, but Olivia was indenial. She, in all honesty, hadn't wanted to face the reality in this situation. She didn't want to deal with this right now. At her age, at this point in her life. She was working on her sergeant's exam, she was still working case after case, still gradually working through her attack, Brian and her were still really getting settled into living together. This was not what she needed on top of everything. But now, there was nothing she could do about it.

As Olivia sat in the master bathroom of the apartment, she almost couldn't believe her eyes, almost didn't want to believe her eyes. But she couldn't deny the plastic stick in her hand or the other two sitting on the sink counter, each one with a plus sign, indicating a positive result. The detective couldn't deny the obvious. She, Olivia Benson, was pregnant.