CHAPTER 9

'I can't believe I had to plead him out,' said Alex bitterly, taking another gulp of wine. 'Man 1, I could have had him for murder...'

'I'm sorry, Alex,' said Olivia. 'Sometimes the state does stuff that doesn't make sense.'

'It's that bastard MacBride is what it is,' snapped Alex. 'Elections are coming up and it's a lot easier to campaign without that publicity-hungry weasel kicking up a stink in the press-'

'Liv, can you take Nat for a minute?' Elliot walked into the room cradling Natalie against his shoulder. 'I have to call Cragen about the Union Square case and she keeps distracting me.'

'Elliot, she's two weeks old, how could she possibly be distracting you?' said Olivia. 'It's your fault for letting your mind wander!' She stood up and took the baby from him. 'Here, Nat, you want to go see Auntie Alex?'

'Probably not a good idea,' said Alex, draining the glass. 'This is my fifth wine this evening. I don't want to drop your child on its head.' She looked at Elliot. 'Probably because it'd turn out to be the last thing I ever did.'

'You're damn right it would,' muttered Elliot darkly.

'Seriously though, she's a darling,' said Alex. 'How on earth did you manage to produce something like her, Elliot?'

'Are you kidding me?' said Elliot. 'She's gorgeous, that's all Liv.' He bent down and kissed Olivia on the top of her head. 'I'm going to go to the bedroom to phone Cragen, OK?'

'Sure, El,' replied Olivia. 'Alex, are you sure you don't want to hold her? I'm sure you wouldn't drop her.'

Alex eyed Natalie. 'Well, maybe for a couple of minutes.' She smiled at Olivia. 'She is rather cute, you know.'

'I noticed.' Olivia cradled the baby in her arms and passed her to Alex. 'Just support her head, there, like that, and you'll do fine.'

'She's lovely, Liv,' whispered Elliot, tucking her hair back behind her ear.

'I know, right?' Olivia still couldn't quite believe they'd actually managed to create her. Natalie stretched out and fidgeted with the loose end of Olivia's hospital ID bracelet.

'She looks like you,' he told her.

'Really? I don't see it,' replied Olivia. 'I can see you around her eyes and mouth though.' She smiled at Elliot.

'I think she looks a bit like my great uncle Milton,' said Munch, strolling in with a large bunch of flowers in hand. 'Hey, Elliot, she has your hairline!'

Elliot glared.

'Wonderful timing as ever, John,' said Olivia. 'Where are the others?'

'They're just behind me,' replied Munch. 'They got held up when Alex had to stop and buy out the entire gift shop.' He paused. 'Seriously, there really is nothing left. You might want to clear out some of the furniture to make room.'

Olivia laughed. 'Hey, Nat, you want to say hi to your Uncle John?'

'I don't know, Liv, we don't want to scare her,' muttered Elliot.

'Oh my GOD, Liv!' squealed Alex, rushing in carrying a huge gift basket and several flower arrangements. She dumped them into Munch's hands and leant down to stroke Natalie's head. 'She's so beautiful, Olivia...'

Olivia smiled. 'Thanks Alex, that means-'

'I am SO GLAD you guys got drunk at Warner's birthday and had sex!' Alex started making faces at the baby. Munch let out a snort and turned away. Olivia could see his shoulders shaking, and she was fairly sure he wasn't weeping with joy.

'Thank you for that, uh, beautiful sentiment, Alex,' Elliot said slowly. 'We'll be sure to write it down to tell her on her eighteenth birthday.'

'Jeez, Alex, I've never seen anyone run so fast carrying that many flowers,' said Fin. 'You do know she's not going anywhere, right?'

'It's not my fault you couldn't keep up,' replied Alex. 'Look, Fin!'

'Yes, Alex, it's a baby,' said Fin.

'But this is... this is Natalie, Fin! Look at her! She looks just like Liv, don't you think?'

Munch muttered something about Natalie having dodged a bullet there. Elliot glared even more.

Fin smiled. 'I know, Alex, she's Natalie. Congratulations, you guys.'

'Thanks, Fin,' said Elliot. 'And thank you, John, for mixing the punch. Me and Liv have decided that you are at least 25% responsible for Natalie's creation.'

'Only 25%, huh?' said Munch thoughtfully.

'Well, we also have to give credit to the bags of ice and to the ancient off-brand condom we found in Olivia's purse,' explained Elliot.

'Even so, 25%, wow, you two must have been good to go already. Just needed an excuse, huh?' Munch cackled.

'Eh, I don't know, I think we would have gotten there in the end.' Elliot smiled at Olivia and kissed her forehead.

Alex looked like she was about to cry. 'Awwww, you guys...' Suddenly she frowned and looked up in shock as the room was filled with the strains of Beethoven's Ninth.

'Ah,' said Munch, pulling out his phone, 'that must be that cocktail waitress. Congrats, guys!' He flipped open his phone as he walked out the door. 'Hello, Serena? Yes, Sabrina, that's what I meant, bad line...' His voice faded away up the corridor.

'How the hell does he do it?' said Elliot, shaking his head in disbelief.

'I have no idea,' replied Fin. 'Maybe one day he'll tell us.'

'Unlikely,' said Elliot. 'But I'll tell you what, Liv, in 21 years there's no way we're letting him around Nat unsupervised.'

Olivia laughed. 'El, he'll be well into his seventies or eighties by then-'

'I don't care,' interrupted Elliot. 'That man has some kind of superpowers. Weird, skinny old man superpowers.'

'You got it sorted with Cragen, El?' Olivia asked, looking up as he came back into the living room.

'Oh yeah, it's fine,' replied Elliot. He walked around the sofa, sat down next to Olivia and put his arm around her. 'How you doing there, Alex?'

'She's... amazing, Elliot,' said Alex.

Elliot smiled and kissed Olivia on the cheek. 'I know.'

A/N: That's all folks, thanks for all the reviews and if you liked it, tell me! I hope you all enjoyed it anyway. It was great fun to write.