Infinity

TITLE: Infinity (35/36)

AUTHOR: Master F&M

FANDOM: Law and Order: SVU

RATING: Everything from PG to R—just like life.

SUMMARY: A Fin-based saga to follow his life that isn’t seen on the show.

DISCLAIMER: L&O: SVU and all its characters belong to Dick Wolf, NBC, and whomever

                          else puts the show out for our enjoyment. I just get to play with them.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Sam is a character of my own creation. She does not exist on the show.

FEEDBACK: Please give some. For entertainment purposes only.

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CHAPTER 35

            There was a relaxed atmosphere in the SVU squad room. Though the holidays were over,
and everyone was well into breaking their New Year’s resolutions, there was still enough
seasonal goodwill spirit in the air to have kept their caseload to a minimum. Having taken
advantage of the break in the special brand of crimes that were assigned to them, the detectives
were all caught up on their paperwork - everyone, that is, except Munch who naturally still had a
pile of it sitting on his desk - and were discussing everything and nothing at all. Capt. Cragen,
for once, was not getting on his detectives to make better use of their time.

            Stabler tossed Fin’s nerf football over to Munch. The ball was involved in a casual game
of catch and had already made several trips around the room. Almost as if rightfully sensing it
wouldn’t be welcome, it had steered clear of Olivia to land only in the appreciative hands of its
male camarades in order to be caught, spiked, cradled and hiked as only men with time on their
hands could do.

            The game came to a sudden end, however, when the ball lost its bearing and strayed into
forbidden airspace, hitting Olivia on the back of her head. It was then banished back to the
bottom drawer of Fin’s desk, and a conversation had ensued concerning men, children, and the
similarity between their behavioral traits. Eventually, though, talk turned to Fin and his
impending fatherhood.

            “So you guys all set?”

            Elliot was a big believer in being prepared. As the member of the squad with the most
practical child-rearing experience, he felt it fell to him to give the most advice. He had, at Sam’s
urging, even gone over to the penthouse to inspect the nursery for any, as he called it, ‘newbie
mistakes’ and had made some suggestions on how it could better be suited for twins.

            Fin had endured the intrusion with an unbelievable amount of patience. As
uncomfortable as he sometimes still was with his colleagues being privy to his private life, he
realized he no longer lived on an island, and had made a conscious effort to socialize with them
more often for the sake of his children. He recognized that he might need to rely on them in a
pinch, and wanted them to be just as protective of his kids as he knew they all were of Elliot’s.

            “Yeah, everything’s ready.”

            Fin smiled as he thought about how close he and Sam were to their due date. Three
weeks to go. He was as excited to see his babies as any kid ever was on Christmas Eve. “All we
need now are the twins.”

            “You’re going to be a great father to them.” Olivia was happy for him.

            “Thanks.”

            Olivia was impressed with how much Fin had changed. It wasn’t too long ago that all
they’d known about him was that he had a grown son. Now here he was- proudly sharing details
of his new family. She glanced at his desk, which was practically a shrine to Sam and her belly,
and had to smile. For the love of a good woman . . .

            She remembered how he hadn’t even balked when she’d shown up unexpectedly with
Elliot that Friday night just before Christmas when he’d gone over to put his stamp of approval
on the nursery. With her having nothing to offer by way of useful experience, Fin had known she
was there just because she was curious. He had welcomed her in anyway and, after putting in a
call to Munch, they’d even had a sort of impromptu dinner party. Elliot had gotten a little drunk,
perhaps because Kathy and the kids were out of town visiting her parents, and she had joined
him. But while Munch took Elliot to his place to sleep it off, Sam had insisted that she stay with
them at the penthouse. She’d been in no condition at the time to argue.

            Olivia thought back to early the next morning when she’d come across them in the
kitchen. She wasn’t sure what they’d been discussing, but Fin was looking at Sam with so much
love that he’d been near tears. He had murmured something, then kissed her with enough
passion, seven months pregnant and all, for Olivia to know where it would lead. Since they were
oblivious to her standing in the doorway, she had snuck back to her guest room and stayed there
until she heard them up and about a few hours later.

            The look Fin had given Sam had seared itself into Olivia’s memory. Though she was
happy for him that he had found someone who inspired it in him, she was also disheartened. No
one had ever looked at her that way.

            “You know,” Munch interrupted her thoughts, “it would be interesting to do some kind of
scientific survey about the numbers here. Take a poll of some kind of everyone who’s worked in
SVU over the past twenty years and see just how many of them have given birth to twins.” He
looked at Fin.

            “With you joining the ranks, it seems there’s an inordinate number of us producing
multiple offspring at one time.”

            “You think so?” Olivia thought for a moment. “Wasn’t there a detective here two years
ago who had twins? Carmichael . . . Carlisle, or something like that?”

            “Yeah, that’s right.” Elliot joined in. “And last year McClousky had triplets.” They all
looked at each other.

            “Maybe it’s something they’re putting in the coffee,” Fin offered. Four heads turned to
face Cragen as he came out of his office. He was taken aback by their stares.

            “Whatever it is, I either didn’t do it, or don’t want to know about it. What I do want is to
take advantage of all this free time and conduct our annual performance reviews.” His
suggestion was met with a collective groan.

            “Yes, I know how much you all love them, but better now than when we’re crunched for
time, so . . . ” He looked around, then settled on Olivia.

            “Benson. You’re up first.” Olivia sighed then got up and followed Cragen into his
office. Fin looked at his watched. Munch noticed him looking.

            “Got a date?”

            Fin gave him a look. “Yeah. With Sam. She was supposed to meet me here. Today was
her last day at work for a while, and I didn’t want her driving home across town by herself.
Especially in this snow.” He looked at his watch again.

            “She should have been here by now.”

            “I’m sure there’s nothing . . . ”

            Munch stopped mid-sentence when Fin stood up smiling. Sam was just walking through
the doors and Fin thought she looked beautiful. He watched her walk across the room with
something just short of lust in his eyes. Recognizing the look, Elliot gave him a friendly pat on
the shoulder.

            “Easy there, guy. That’s how she got that way, remember?” Fin laughed a little, then met
her the rest of the way.

            “Hey, baby.”

            He gave her a kiss, then forgetting himself, leaned down and kissed her belly as well. He
stopped short when he realized what he’d done, then continued on, hoping no one had seen him.
Munch laughed silently while rocking in his seat and exchanged an amused glance with Elliot.

            Fin brushed snow from her hair. “I was starting to worry about you.”

            She sighed. “Traffic’s really bad out there. The snow is really starting to come down.”
Sam seemed a little distracted.

            “You okay? Those Braxton-Hicks things bothering you again?” Fin had been worried at
first about the false labor pains she’d been having on and off for the past couple of weeks, but Dr.
Ross had assured them that they were normal.

            “Yeah, a little.” Sam rubbed her stomach. “Are we going to be taking off soon?” She
was anxious to get of her feet.

            “Actually, I gotta stick around for a while.” He saw how tired she was. “Why don’t you
go lay down in the crib? I’ll come get you as soon as I can leave.”

            Sam looked at the steps leading up to the rest area. “You want me to climb up there?”
She looked dubious.

            “I’ll help.” Elliot got up and took her elbow. “I’ve had a lot of practice helping Kathy
climb stairs.” He led her to the steps and made slow progress to the top.

            Fin sat at his desk and waited for Cragen. Each review generally took a half hour, and he
wanted to volunteer to get his over with next so he could take Sam home. He watched her
navigate the steps to the crib without taking his eyes off her until she was safely inside. He knew
now what it felt like to be half of a whole, and knew he’d do anything to make sure his better half
stayed happy and safe. Fin picked up one of the pictures on his desk and remembered the
morning she’d made him feel like they shared the same heart.

            Even after having stayed up late the night before when the guys had come over, Sam had
gotten up early that Saturday to make him breakfast like she did every weekend. Fin had gone
after her to tell her that she didn’t have to work so hard in her condition, but she had laughed and
said that she was in love with her condition and didn’t consider it a hardship. Fin had half-jokingly said that then maybe they should do it again once the babies were born.

            Sam had looked him in the eyes and known there was a serious question underneath the
humor. She’d kissed him and answered that she’d always dreamed of having a big family, and
would have all the babies he wanted. He’d loved her so much at that moment that he’d wanted to
cry. Instead, he’d taken her back to bed to practice how to make those babies. He was getting
very creative in finding ways to do that.

            Fin got up and went into Cragen’s office as soon as Olivia came out. Twenty-seven
minutes later, he was headed up to the crib to collect Sam and head on home.

            Elliot watched Fin climb the stairs, then turned to Munch. “So how are things with you
and Tori?”

            Munch drew his head back in surprise and peered at him. “If you’re asking if we’re
planning on having a set of our own, then the answer is no.”

            Elliot laughed. “No, I was just asking.”

            “Ah. Well in that case, the lovely Tori and I are doing just fine.”

            “Do you think you might tie the knot again someday?”

            “Bite your tongue. And let’s change the subject before the Fates get wind of the fact that
I’m actually enjoying myself in this relationship.”

            Det. Deuthorn walked into the squad room turning the pages of The New York Post.
Olivia did a double take, then walked up to him.

            “Do you ever go home?”

            Deuthorn glanced at her, then went back to the paper. “I guess I won’t be tonight.”

            “What’s that supposed to mean?” Munch wanted to know.

            “You’re kidding, right?” He looked around at their confused faces. “Have you taken a
look outside in the past hour? There’s practically a blizzard going on out there. No one’s gonna
be able to get around the city tonight.” He shrugged his shoulders.

            “Not until the plows come through anyway.”

            “Hey!” Everyone turned to Fin as he bounded down the stairs. “We need a bus here,
now. Sam’s in labor.”

            “What?” Munch began to feel the beginning stirs of panic. “But she’s not due for
another couple of weeks.”

            “Yeah, well, I don’t think the babies read the calendar.” His excited smile faded at the
look on their faces. “What?”

            “Deuthorn was just telling us that we’re snowed in.”

            “What are you talking about?” Fin went over to his desk and made a call. Cragen came
out of his office and looked at Munch.

            “Okay, John. You’re up next.”

            “Not now, Capt. We have something we need to deal with here.” Cragen joined the
group.

            “What’s going on?”

            Olivia answered. “We’re snowed in and Sam’s in labor.”

            Fin came back to the group looking stricken. “EMS said the roads are really bad. The
soonest they can get here is probably near an hour. They’re dealing with a lot of accidents.” He
thought for a moment then grabbed his coat.

             “I’ll get her to the hospital myself.”

            “Whoa! Whoa!” Elliot held onto Fin’s arm. “If Sam’s in labor, the last thing you want
to do is to take her out into the snow where you might just end up getting stuck.” He relaxed his
hold.

            “I’ve been through this a couple of times. Let me see how she’s doing. See if we can’t
just wait it out, okay?”

            Fin calmed down a bit. “Alright. Okay.” He led Elliot back up the steps.

            Sam sat on the sofa taking deep breaths. She relaxed a little when she saw Fin. “Are they
here?”

            “Baby, the roads are pretty bad. They won’t be able to get here for a while.” He sat down
next to her, then quickly stood up again.

            “Well, as you just felt, my water’s already broke, so I don’t think we have a while!”

            Her voice took on a hint of hysteria as she was hit with another contraction. She groaned
loudly and tried to blow out steady breaths like George had taught her, while grimacing through
the pain. Elliot looked at Fin’s fearful face, then took control of the situation.

            “Sam, I need you to lay back on the sofa, okay?” He grabbed a blanket and folded it
under her then covered her with another. He turned to Fin.

            “Help her get out of her clothes. Anything from the waist down has to go.” He started to
say something else but was cut off by Sam yelling through another contraction. He gave Fin a
slightly worried look.

            “Those weren’t very far apart. Do like I said. I’ll be right back.” He raced downstairs
and found Munch pacing.

            “What the hell is going on up there?” Munch looked nearly as fearful as Fin.

            “Well, Munch, I’d have to say that they’re on their way.”

            “Are you crazy?” Munch was almost yelling. “She can’t have those babies here. She
needs to be in a hospital, where there’s doctors and medications for pain, and . . . and
sterilization for God’s sake!”

            Elliot turned to Olivia. “I don’t really have time for this. Calm him down, then the both
of you go to the supply room and bring me back as many towels as you can find.” He turned to
Deuthorn.

            “You. Go find a new basin or bucket or something and bring me up some clean warm
water. Capt.,” he turned to Cragen. “Get that ambulance here.”

            Elliot took the steps two at a time and found Sam writhing in pain. She was holding Fin’s
hand and trying to control her breathing, but she was having a difficult time of it. Elliot lifted the
blanket and saw that a head was crowning.

            “Okay, Sam. I think this one is ready to make an appearance.” He took a position at the
end of the sofa and propped her legs up on the arm. “When you feel the next contraction coming,
start to push.”

            “You sure?” Fin was uncertain about everything. “Shouldn’t we wait?”

            “Shut up, Fin!” Sam yelled as she felt another contraction beginning to build. “If this
baby wants out now, then let it out!” She pulled herself up.

            “Good. Good.” Elliot encouraged her as she bore down and pushed. “That’s great, Sam.
You’re doing great.”

            Sam laid back and rested against Fin when it passed. He wiped her tears away when she
began to cry and whispered to her, heartbroken that he couldn’t do more to help her. Elliot got
up at the knock on the door.

            “How’s it going?” Olivia handed him the water and towels. “Munch is climbing the
walls down there.”

            “Tell him it’s going fine.” Elliot went back to the sofa when he saw Sam sit up again.
Olivia went to report the news.

            “Is this another one? Okay. Give me a big push now. Big push.” After a couple of
pushes, he laughed breathlessly. “Here comes the head. It’s almost h-e-r-e. Okay, stop. Stop
pushing.” He handled the baby and helped ease it the rest of the way out.

            Sam fell back against Fin and gulped for air. “Is it okay?” She didn’t hear it crying.

            “One minute.”

            Elliot wiped its face, clearing its nostrils. Cold and exposed, it let loose a resounding
wail in protest. Fin and Sam laughed with relief at the sound.

            Elliot smiled at them. “You have a son.” He wrapped the baby in a towel and laid him in
Sam’s arms.

            Sam began to cry again, but happily this time, as she looked at her son. He was the most
beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Fin knelt in front of her. He alternated between placing kisses
on her forehead and staring with joy at his baby boy.

            There was another knock on the door, then Munch stuck his head in. “Is it safe to come
in?” Sam smiled at him in response, and Fin stood up. Munch came over and peeked at the
bundle in her arms. His smile covered his face.

            “Well, what do you know . . . Fin cloned himself.” He put a hand on Fin’s shoulder and
gave it a shake, then bent over and kissed his niece.

            “You did good, Princess.”

            Sam smiled warmly, then sucked in a breath when she felt a contraction. Elliot had been
watching her for signs of it.

            “Okay. Looks like we’re almost ready for round two.” He took Munch by the arm and
sat him in a chair across the room.

            “Glad you’re here. We need another set of arms.” He took the baby from Sam and gave
it to Munch. “Hold on to this one while we see about his little brother or sister.” Munch was
happy to oblige.

            Sam sat, her back pressed against Fin. “I can’t.” She was more tired than she ever
thought possible. “I can’t do this again.”

            “Sure you can, honey.” Elliot tried to be helpful. “I know how hard it is . . . ”

            “The hell you do.” Sam gritted her teeth through another wave of pain.

            “Baby,” Fin turned her face to him. “I can’t begin to imagine what all this must feel like,
but I do know you. And I know you can do anything.”

            Sam touched a hand to his face. She forced herself to sit up and tried to keep the yelling
down to a minimum as the next contraction bore down on her.

            Elliot coached her through the second delivery much like he did the first. This child, too,
seemed in a hurry to be born, and twenty-five minutes after holding her first baby, Sam held his
twin brother.

             Fin was in fatherhood heaven. He thanked Elliot several times, then allowed the rest of
the unit to get a quick look at his boys and to take pictures with one of the department’s cameras.
When he noticed Sam having trouble keeping her eyes open, he kicked everyone out of the room
so she could sleep. Munch was the last to leave. He let Fin settle into an armchair before
handing him the second baby, then smiled at the image in front of him: Fin with a baby in each
arm, beaming. He laughed as he walked out the door.

            “Good luck, Tutuola.”

            Sam awoke just a few minutes after she’d fallen asleep. Her new maternal instincts were
in overdrive so that she couldn’t rest without worrying about her babies. She looked across the
room at Fin. He’d shifted both tiny boys into one arm so that he could use his free hand to touch
them. Using just one of his fingers, he counted each of theirs and touched the tips of their noses.

            Sam watched him snatch his finger back when one of the babies mewed, afraid he’d hurt
him. She smiled a little smile. Everything she loved about him was in that small movement; his
caring, his concern, his love and protectiveness, and even his uncertainty about his own strength-
physically and emotionally. All those things made up the man who, despite everything that had
happened in his life, still gave so much of himself to others. The man whom she didn’t think she
could live without. Sam’s love for him overwhelmed her, and at that moment she knew nothing
could ever change it.

            “Fin?”

            Fin looked up at the sound of her voice and smiled at her. He shifted one of his sons back
to his free arm then carried them both over to their mother. Kneeling down, he gave her one.

            “Yeah, baby?”

            “Marry me.”

            Fin sat completely down on the floor and stared at her. “Yeah? You’re sure? You really
want that?”

            Sam nodded. “I love you, Odafin.” She was rewarded with a huge, dimpled smile and a
kiss.

            “I love you, too, baby. More than anything.”

............................................................

            The wedding of Samantha Munch to Odafin Tutuola was a small affair. Everyone who
was expected to be there, was, as well as a few surprises.

            Vernon Tutuola had accompanied his wife and Gerrie to the wedding. Things had not
been settled between he and his son, but he knew that he would regret it later on in life if he had
refused to go. Fin was told that Connie had made an appearance during the ceremony as well,
but he had not actually seen her there.

            Sam had been more than a little surprised to see Bernie Munch sitting among the guests.
She had sent her father an invitation to her wedding, but had not expected him to come. John
and Fin both nodded to him after the ceremony. What neither of them knew was that both had
threatened Bernie if he failed to show; John with mental anguish, and Fin with physical pain. Fin
had told him to hold no illusions, though. John Munch would be walking Sam down the aisle.

            The usual suspects, including Capt. Cragen and Olivia, and even Det. Deuthorn, were
there as well as a few others from the department and the Bureau.

            Kathy Stabler was in attendance, too, and sat in the front pew with her husband. Elliot
held one of his godsons and namesakes, Corey Ellias Tutuola, while Kathy held the other, Calvin
Elli. Or at least he thinks he did. They were still too young at the time for him to tell them apart.

            All in all, the guests only included family and close friends so that even counting the
wedding party, there were fewer than twenty-five people witnessing the day.

            The bride did not wear a white gown nor veil, and the groom did not wear a traditional
tux. There were a few chuckles when Munch, after walking Sam down the short aisle, did a soft
shoe as he made his way over to Fin to stand with Dorian as his best men. The wedding party
was complete with Tori and George as Sam’s people of honor.

            The ceremony itself was quiet and short, and though there may have been a few present
who doubted the marriage would last, everyone had to admit that on that day at least, both the
bride and the groom were the happiest anyone had ever seen either one of them.