Chapter Text
January 20th, 2017
Lieutenant Olivia Benson has just dropped her son Noah at preschool and is left alone with her thoughts. It had been her decision to break up with Ed Tucker, but she still has this melancholic feeling of missing out on all the things they could have done together. After their stay in Paris, Ed had suggested traveling to Istanbul next. However, Olivia preferred to go back to France, but, this time, with Noah, so that they could enjoy Disneyland Paris all together. And, if the time allowed for it, she had heard of another theme park called Futuroscope, which was pretty close, in Poitiers.
Well, after all, she can go to both amusement parks with her son, even though she is no longer with Ed.
Speaking of Noah, in two days it will be the anniversary of the day she met this vulnerable baby in that dirty motel room. Three years ago. Time goes by so fast. She is thinking about the wonderful party she could throw to celebrate this. But she realizes her little kid doesn't even know he is adopted. Well... Today is Friday. She could arrange a little playdate for him this evening. He seems to get on really well with this kid Dylan who has just started in his class about a month ago. She knows he has moved from some other city, but she is not sure which one.
The work day was really tough. They had a case in a television production company where some child actors had allegedly suffered sexual abuse. One of the main actresses had just announced her pregnacy at age 16, which immediately raised the red flags of the SVU sqad.
But Olivia knew she had to tell apart her job from her private life. She left the precinct and headed to Noah's preschool to pick him up, wondering if Dylan's parents would agree with his coming to her apartment for the playdate.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Lynch!", Olivia greeted Noah's teacher.
"Hi, Ms. Benson!", she looked at Olivia and then searched rapidly for Noah. "Look, Noah! Mommy's here!"
Olivia grabbed Noah in her arms and then asked Ms. Lynch to talk to her for a minute.
"Is there something wrong with Noah?", asked the teacher, with a worried face expression.
"No, no, no, no!", replied Olivia. "It's just that I'd like to organize a little playdate for him, and was wondering if there's any kid he seems to get along with the most?"
"Oh, yeah! This last month he seems to have become best friends with a new boy named Dylan. Would you like me to introduce you to his father? He has just arrived in the country and his English is not really fluid, but he manages to communicate."
"Ok, sounds good!", Liv still didn't know where this man could come from, but she had learned a couple foreign languages at high school, so she was willing to know which one she would be practicing.
Ms. Lynch came back in the classroom with a man as tall as Olivia, and both approached her.
"Mr. Pastor, this is Olivia Benson, Noah's mom", she introduced both to each other. "Ms. Benson, this is Enrique Pastor, Dylan's dad."
"Enrique Pastor. Aging Services Provider in New York", he shook Olivia's hand, speaking with his Spanish thick accent.
"Oh!", said Olivia, a bit awkwardly. "Olivia Benson. Lieutenant in the New York Police Department", she felt the need to specify what each letter in NYPD stood for, seeing his English level.
It occurred to her that he hadn't probably understood the meaning of "lieutenant", but she just rolled with it.
Ms. Lynch left the two parents alone with their kids so they could talk, and they just kept the conversation going. Olivia tried her best Spanish in order for Enrique to understand what her intentions were.
"Me gustaría que usted y su hijo vengan a jugar a mi apartamento", she said, pronuncing each word slowly, also with a thick English accent.
"¡Oh! ¡Habla usted español!, Enrique replied, really surprised. "Me sorprende que con lo poco que llevamos aquí nos hagan esta invitación, pero por mí, encantado."
This way, Enrique agreed to the playdate and Olivia gave him her address written down on a paper, and told him to be there with Dylan at 5 pm this evening.
Enrique was a white tall man, about her same height, with progressively balding grey hair, and who dressed elegantly. From his accent, she would say he came from Spain, because that was more like a European accent than that of a Spanish-speaking American country. She knew that because she had had to deal with cases working with Italian police officers, and that was more like an Italian accent. She also noticed the "th" sound instead of the "s" sound, so yeah, he definitely was from northern Spain.
He seemed funny and all, but there was something that didn't quite add up. She had this feeling that didn't fully convince her that she could trust him. However, she remembered the fear of being abandoned she had been feeling ever since Elliot left, and realized that this could be the reason why she didn't really trust men anymore.
*Dialogues in English*
-"I'd like you and your son to come and play at my apartament."
-"Oh! You speak Spanish! I'm surprised that, given the little time we've been living here, we get this invitation, but I'll be glad to go."