TITLE: WHO’S YOUR DADDY?
FANDOM: Law and Order SVU
PAIRING: Alex Cabot / Olivia Benson
BEGINNING DATE: 02/00/2004
COMPLETION DATE: 08/14/2004
RATING: PG If same-sex relationships bother you, you might want to read something else. Otherwise, ENJOY!!!!!!!!!
LEGAL STUFF: Copyrighted 2004 by Adrienne Lee. Non-original characters, if applicable, are used without permission under "Fair Use" doctrine. The author reservesall rights attached to all original aspects of this work. This is a work of fiction; any similarity to characters or persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
SPOILER: Post "Loss". There also might be other bits and pieces from various episodes.
SUMMARY FOR STORY: Olivia in search of answers…
FEEDBACK: Encouragement or criticism or both: Yes, please!!!
“Hey,” Olivia answered her cell phone. “Did you find out what their lawyers want? And did they say why they couldn’t give us another sample from the same donor?”
Somewhat hesitantly, the litigator asked, “Are you sitting down?”
“No, Douglas, why?”
“Go sit down.”
The detective picked up her coffee cup and walked back to her desk. “I don’t think I like the sound of this…”
“Are you sitting yet?” He asked again.
Sinking into her chair, and resting her head in her hands, Olivia urged, “Shoot.”
“Do you want the good news? Or the bad news?” Before his friend could choose, he rushed on, “You know what? Here’s the good news: The sperm bank screwed up, and they’ve made a settlement offer. A very generous one. So, you won’t have to worry about how you’re going to pay for Alexis’ tuition for the next five years. Now you have lots of time to resolve your ego issues.”
“I do not have issues!” She just didn’t think they should pay college tuition money for baby school. At least that was her reason and she was sticking to it.
“Right.” Douglas dismissed her denial. “Here’s the bad news: there was never nor had there ever been any genetic material in the container you brought home.”
“Pardon me?” The statement was really quite simple, but her mind refused to comprehend.
Thinking it was the bad mobile telephone reception, he repeated himself, “There was never nor had there ever been any genetic material in the container you brought home.”
“You said that already, Douglas.” The detective remarked impatiently. “Can you skip the lawyer-talk and use plain English?”
*That’s not Plain English? Suppose I wouldn’t want to understand either if I were in her shoes…* With the courage of a bleeding-heart attorney telling his death-row inmate client he had exhausted all avenues of appeal, he rephrased, “There was no spunk, no sperm, no wigglies. Nor were there any… ever.”
“What are you telling me? Where did Alexis come from then?” *How did Alex get pregnant?*
“Now, I know what you’re thinking.” Her friend added hurriedly, “I’m sure Alex didn’t cheat on you.”
*SCREECH. CRASH.* The detective’s mind came to a standstill. No, she hadn’t quite reached that conclusion, at least not until he kicked on the accelerator.
“Hello, Olivia? Are you still there?” Douglas smacked his phone against his palm. “Damn cell phones...”
The brunette blenched. Perhaps from the noise on the other end of the line. Perhaps from what Douglas had just said. “Can you stop that?”
“Oh, good, I haven’t lost you.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Like I was saying, I’m sure Alex didn’t…”
“Shut up, Douglas! Just shut up! Don’t even go there,” she warned.
“I’m sorry.” An idea occurred to him. “You know? Maybe she found another sperm donor…”
“But we spent days trying to narrow down to one.”
“Maybe she wanted somebody you both know,” he reasoned. “You were pretty set on a ‘random sperm’.”
“But it’s our baby.” She argued. “We both decided…”
“Alexis is still your baby.” Catching the whiny undertone, Douglas cut her off. “Legally, Alex’s body belongs to Alex. She can determine if and when and how she gets pregnant.”
*Legal schmegal.* “But we made the decision together…”
“Look, what’s done is done…” He tried to talk some sense into Olivia. “You shouldn’t worry too much about who her biological…”
“What do you mean? We need to find out who her father is!”
“We?”
“Yes, we! It was your idea to go back to the sperm bank!”
“Okay. We.” Douglas exhaled loudly. “Maybe you should just ask Alex how she…”
“No way!” Olivia vowed in no uncertain terms. “She’s just going to think I’m doubting her again.” Or worse, Alex might think she was questioning her fidelity. This time the brunette might be banished to the cat box for good.
*Aren’t you?* He wasn’t going to bring up the obvious though, instead he counseled, “It would be so much simpler…”
“I said ‘No’!”
“Sheesh! Don’t snap my head off!” *I wasn’t the bad guy here…* Although had he not put the seed of mistrust in his friend’s mind, maybe they wouldn’t be having this conversation. *Okay, maybe I was.* “So who do you think it could be?”
“It could be anybody!”
“Okay,” Douglas counted his fingers backwards. “She got pregnant in May, right?”
“There about, yes.”
“Which of your friends or acquaintances did you have contact with around that time?”
“It could be a client…” Olivia started, then stopped herself.
“Do you really want to go there again?” Douglas voiced his disbelief. “This time, Ling and Elliot might murder you instead of sending you to Maggie C’s.”
“Okay. Fine. Our mutual friends…” She started a tally, then stopped. “You think maybe the bank screwed up about their screw-up?”
“Not for the kind of money they’re willing to cough up to make it go away.” The attorney instincts took over. “In fact, I’m going to try to get you more…”
“Do whatever. That’s the least of my worries right now.” Olivia jabbed her pen in her note pad; each angry dent she made represented a potential sperm. “If I come up with lab reports, do you think Susan will interpret them for me?”
“Of course! What a stupid question!” *God, did I just say that?*
“Good. I gotta go.” She said, and snapped her phone close extra hard.
Elliot was easy. She just walked around his desk casually, pretended to throw away a wad of paper, and swabbed his discarded coffee cup.
Then, she called Ling and they met for lunch. Afterwards, she took a sample from Ling’s fork. Her DNA would be similar enough to Leon’s. That Alexis had blue eyes and blonde hair did not even cross her one-tracked mind.
Douglas was shocked when the detective stormed into his office with a swab in hand.
“All right, open up.” She demanded.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“Don’t you need a warrant for this?”
“Not if you give it up willingly.” The cloud over her head got even darker. “Besides, you haven’t committed a crime. Or have you?”
“You think I’m nuts or something? Alex and Ling are so completely set on Alexis and Michael getting married when they grow up.”
“So? Cleopatra married Ptolemy. They had the same father.”
“Are you even thinking straight?”
Her eyes flashed and got really narrow. “I’d say you’re protesting a little too hard.”
“Fine.” He opened his mouth wide like dying grouper, and made a spitting noise after Olivia removed the stick. “Does it always hurt so bad?”
“Wuss.” She spun on her heels and stalked off. Three down, three more to go, the detective calculated as she exited the office of Lambert, McKnight and Wellington.
Back at the station, Fin and Munch were on a case. Unfortunately, her partner had also returned from lunch. “Hey, Elliot?” She used her needy girl voice.
He looked up from his paperwork. “Whatsup?”
“Are you going out anytime soon?”
“Not planning on it.”
“Oh.” Sighing loudly, Olivia picked up and opened a random folder. Almost immediately, she closed it, and dropped it down on her desk.
“What’s wrong?”
Rubbing her temples, she complained, “Head’s killing me.”
“I think I’ve got a couple of aspirins here somewhere.” He started rifling through his desk.
“Can’t take aspirin.”
“Why? You took them before…”
“Not today. Thins your blood, you know?” She led her partner down the garden path. That had always worked on her ex-boyfriends. Why should Elliot be any different?
“Oh.” Scrunching his brows together, he thought hard. “OHHH!” Finally connecting the dots, he jumped up, and grabbed his coat. “I’ll go get you some Midol from the bodega down the street. Be right back. Just sit tight, okay?”
Before the dust from her partner’s speedy departure settled, she was fishing trash out of her colleagues’ garbage bins. *Half eaten donut? Munch?* She thought somewhat amused, while removing a piece of chewing gum with her tweezers.
*Crap!* Fin’s trash can was empty. *Hm… Alexis isn’t that dark, but she does tan…* Olivia decided he was still a potential suspect. *Aha!* She picked up the paperback he was reading, and carefully removed a recently folded and apparently still damp corner. *That’ll teach you not to lick your finger before you turn a page!*
*Just one more to go…* The detective headed towards the captain’s office. *Nah, not him…* Making a face, she tried to rationalize. *Can’t possibly be him…* Suddenly, a clip from a Simpson episode popped into her head, except Don’s face was superimposed on the little Homer-headed sperms. *Eww!*
Still, she knocked, and receiving no answer, she went in. As luck would have it, the only discarded item was a used dental floss. Putting on a glove, then a second one, and trying not to cringe, or look too hard, she stuffed the string into the test tube.
When Olivia walked out, Stabler was already back at his desk. “I thought Capt’s out?”
“He is. I just thought maybe a change of scenery would help.”
Elliot nodded sympathetically, as if his partner had made complete sense. “Here, maybe these will.”
“Thanks, Elliot.” She took the paper bag from him, and opened the package.
“You want me to get you some water or something?”
“It’s okay.” Grabbing the pills, she stood up. “I think I’m going to go sit in the car or something.”
Smiling most sincerely, he agreed, “Yeah, that might just be the change you need.”
“Call me if something comes up.” Olivia felt a tinge of guilt for manipulating her partner like that. *What’s gotta be done, gotta be done,* she justified.
“Don’t worry, I will.” Before returning to his file, Elliot smiled up once more. “Feel better.”
“Thanks.”
As soon as the car door closed, she flipped opened her phone, and dialed. “Hi, it’s me.” She tried to sound neutral. Neutral and not super needful. “Where are you?”
“I just picked up Alexis from school. Are you all right?” Alex asked.
“Yeah. Are you going back to the office?”
“I can. Why?”
“I’m gonna be a little late tonight. I have to run some stuff over to Warner’s. I might have to wait for the result.” Olivia explained. “Can I stop by to see you first? I’ve missed both of you. Especially you…”
“All right.” Readily, Alex agreed. “I’m turning around now. See you in a few.”
“Love you, Sweetheart.”
“Love you, too, Liv.”
By the time they parted, the brunette had all the evidence she needed. All the little tubes in her pockets potentially held her future. Sitting in the black sedan, she watched as her lover’s Focus pulled away from the parking lot. Maybe Douglas was right, it really didn’t matter. But…
Taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage and started the engine.
“Hey, Melinda.”
“Olivia.” The M.E. turned away from her work, clearly surprised by her visitor. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m sorry, you’re busy,” she started retreating towards the door. “I’ll come back.”
“No, you got here just in time. Stay.” Warner assured while putting the charts and tables away. “I was just finishing up. There, all done.” She smiled, then noticed the detective’s hands twitching in her jacket pockets. “You got something for me?”
“Yes. Maybe.” Olivia wavered. Suddenly, she really wanted to just take off, run home, and pretend none of this happened. “I don’t know.”
“This is not about a current case, is it?” From the other woman’s demeanor and behavior, the M.E. assumed it was about her father. She held out her hand.
Depositing the small containers in the extended palm, Olivia shook her head, letting Warner believe whatever she wished.
“Do you want the works?” She held up the tubes and looked at each sample. “I know some labs…”
“No, just the preliminary, if you don’t mind…”
“Depending on how busy you people keep me, it might take me a few days.”
Olivia almost fled then. Instead she said, “Okay. I can wait.”
“Are you sure?” Perhaps Warner had sensed her uncertainty. “And are you sure you really want to know?”
“Yes. No.” The detective sighed. “I don’t know.”
“You know what? You can decide when I have the results. If you don’t want to know, I won’t tell you, okay? Olivia?”
Smiling a small relieved smile, she nodded. “Okay.”
“Hey, Olivia?” As she began moving towards the door, Warner called her back. “None of the samples are marked. Is yours in there?”
“Uh, no.”
“Then how do you expect me to compare?” The M.E. shook her head, and reached for a swab.
Obediently, Olivia opened her mouth. Soon, there was a ninth test tube.
“I’ll call you as soon as I’m done.”
“Thanks, Melinda, I really appreciate this.”
The next two days dragged on. Finally, Warner’s number popped up on her caller ID. “Hi, Melinda.”
“I’ve got the charts. I haven’t read them though. Do you want me to?”
“No, that’s okay.” The detective answered quickly. “I’ll pick them up as soon as I can.” Not that she didn’t like or trust Warner, she just didn’t have faith in herself. However way she might react, she knew Douglas could at least restrain her.
Without much difficulty, the lawyer cleared his calendar and the detective switched her shift. The next morning, the two friends met at Susan’s lab.
“Hi! You must be Mr. Dub and Det. Benson!” A young woman in a white lab coat greeted them. “I’m Annie! The new post doc!”
*Ugh. Too chipper for the morning, or for any time of the day,* Olivia flinched internally. Conjuring a friendly smile, she asked, “Where’s Dr. Wellington?”
“Dr. Dub said to tell you ‘sorry’, and that she didn’t have time to call. One of her patients went into early labor! So she had to go!” The girl explained hyper-enthusiastically. “She told me why you’re here though! And I can help you with that!”
“All right, Annie,” Douglas took one look at his friend, saw her barely concealed agitation, and decided to seize control of the situation. “Let’s get started then.”
“You know?” The research assistant took off her glasses, wiped them on her coat, and put them back on again. “I really don’t know how this is possible…”
“Would you like to clue us in?” Olivia stopped hiding her impatience after the girl repeated the same words and motions for the third time.
“Okay, this, this, this and this, they’re completely unrelated.” She pulled the charts off the left end of the board. Then she went to the other side, and removed the last one. “Same with this.”
“This and these two, more this than that,” she pointed to the remaining reports. “I see some similarities. They could be related.”
The detective gripped the inside of her pockets, and asked, “Could he be the father?”
“She. No. Not similar enough.”
“That must be Ling’s.” Douglas mumbled to himself.
Olivia twisted around and stared at him. “Ling’s?”
“Oh, they didn’t tell you?”
*Tell me? Do people tell me anything at all?* “No.”
“They’re half fourth cousins. That’s why Ling kept standing in Leon’s way. She didn’t want, and I quote, ‘two toes and two butts for nieces and nephews’.” Douglas explained. “Bernard’s half sister was Lillian’s grandmother, I think. Math’s not my strong suit.”
“Waitaminute! But I thought Ling is just the daughter of the Cabot’s chef?”
“That’s what she likes everybody to think,” he shrugged and continued, “You know, the daughter of a single mother Chinese immigrant servant making it big in the world? If you asked Leon, you’d think they have different parents.” Since Olivia didn’t say anything, he went on, counting his fingers along the way, “The truth is, their great great great grandfather was a Mandarin, Lillian came from France, and…”
“Why didn’t somebody tell me?” *Had I known, I wouldn’t have gotten so jealous of Ling… and thought what I thought… and maybe we wouldn’t have needed therapy… and…* In no time, she was embroiled in the same inner turmoil that plagued her for last few weeks.
“Why should it have made a difference? You were supposed to trust your partner and believe what she tells you.”
Sighing, she stuck her hands deeper into her pockets. “I guess…”
“Excuse me!” Several tense moments later, Annie perked up, interrupting Olivia’s self-flagellation. “Should I continue? Although I’m really not sure if I can!” She took off her spectacles once more and squinted. “Because nothing makes sense here!”
Douglas stepped up. “Please, do continue.”
“I think whoever analyzed the DNA made a mistake.”
“Oh?”
“Because, according to what we have here,” she pointed to the remaining three charts. “These are the parents of this. Except…”
“Except?” Olivia was about to strangle the research assistant. If she had to wring the answer out of her, she would.
“Neither one of them,” she pointed to the parents, “Has a Y chromosome! In other words, they’re both female!”
Dark brows furrowed. “Okay…” The detective responded, not quite comprehending. *How’s that possible? Maybe Warner did make a mistake.* Meanwhile, appearing to be deep in thought, Douglas remained silent.
“Unless…” Annie chewed on her glasses.
“Yes?”
“I know the Japanese made mice with just eggs a couple of years back.” Slowly, the young woman reflected. “They were also working on fertilizing eggs with stem cells.”
“Why? How?”
“Why? So infertile men can father children!” The research assistant replied; ‘D’oh’ was the look she had for her inquisitor. “They were pretty mum about the how, Detective.”
“Yes,” Olivia countered, “But there are many steps between mouse and man.”
“Right, Liv, many, MANY steps,” Douglas finally spoke. “I’m sure this is just some lab mix-up. Thank you, Annie, for all your help.”
“Oh, you’re quite welcome, Mr. Dub! I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any more help!” Annie went back to her chipper self. Not that it had really left.
“We’ll take these back with us.” He removed the remaining charts from the board, and handed them to his friend. “Will you tell my sister I’ll call her later?”
“Surely, Mr. Dub!” She gave him the rest of the reports. “It was nice meeting you! And you, too, Detective!”
“You, too, Annie. Thanks for your help.”
Half dragging, half pushing Olivia, Douglas ordered, “Let’s go back to my office.”
“What’s going on?”
“We can talk in private there, Liv.”
Back at LMDub, with the door closed, Douglas took out a bottle of scotch and two glasses.
After handing his friend one of them, he grinned. “Is there something you haven’t told me?”
*Scotch at 11a.m.? Okay… And the funny look on his face. What’s that all about?* “What do you mean, Douglas?”
“You know? Like maybe, uh, you have extra appendages? Maybe ones that are not obvious?”
“What? You mean like extra toes?” Olivia wasn’t sure why they were having this conversation. “You’ve seen me barefooted, and the answer’s no.”
He took a gulp from his drink. “No, not that kind of appendages.”
“Then what kind?”
“The reproductive kind?”
“What do you mean?” She gripped her tumbler and asked dangerously. This was no time for jokes.
“Like, maybe you’re what they considered ‘intersexual’?”
“And what does that mean?”
“Maybe you’re one of the boys, after all?” He gazed directly into his friend’s eyes, and smirked.
“Do I look like a boy, Douglas? Are you saying I look like a boy?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying…”
“Then what are you saying? That I pee standing up?”
“No…”
Smashing the glass down onto the mahogany desk, Olivia stood up, and placed her hands on her belt. “Would you like to check for yourself?”
“No, no, no.” He turned different shades of blue and green. “That’s okay. I’ll take your word for it.”
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, you’re a girl. A 100% kind and gentle and lovable girl, woman, lady, member of the fairer…”
“Douglas, shut up.”
He made a zipping motion across his lips. Then he sighed, obviously contrite about his really bad prank.
After putting the three loose reports into the manila envelope, Olivia started towards the exit. She stilled her steps when Douglas began waving his arms madly, silently pleading for permission to speak.
For several tortuous minutes, she let her friend sweat. Finally, she acquiesced. “Fine. Talk. But when I say zip, you zip, understood?”
“Yes, Oliv…”
“Zip.”
He halted.
“Okay. Just making sure.” She gave him a thin smile, and sat down. “Carry on.”
“See this?” Picking up a framed photograph, and turning it towards his friend, he proceeded, “This was my mom. She was a medical doctor. Ling used to think my mom liked her so much because she brought another doctor into the family, a geneticist, like herself… before there was such a thing.”
“That’s nice, and very interesting.” Olivia smiled. *Where are we heading with this?*
“My mom used to read Giambattista Della Porta to Susan for bedtime.”
“Who’s he?”
“He was a 16th century magician. Wrote a book called Natural Magic.” He returned the picture frame to its original position. “Every night, Susan listened to stories about making eggs the size of a person’s head, or nuts without shells. Oh, yeah, her favorite was creating multi-colored horses.”
“Those were quite some fairy tales.”
“I’m going to tell you something. You can’t ask any questions. I won’t be able to give you any answers. Well, even if I could legally tell you, I still wouldn’t know what the hell I’m talking about. You know I can’t even count without this.” Douglas pointed at his calculator, and continued laying out the requisite rules. “More importantly, you can’t tell another soul. And you know if you decide to go public, I will deny everything. And nothing will hold up in any courts of law.”
“All right…”
“The gerbil that Susan gave Alexis… It was Susan’s gerbil.”
“Really? I thought it was a spare, there were so many in the tank.” Olivia was surprised the doctor kept her pet with her other lab animals. “I hope Susan didn’t…”
“I don’t think you’re getting it, Liv. It was Susan’s gerbil. Well, not literally.” After a poignant pause, he furthered, “But a reasonable copy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Susan was heartbroken when Blinky died.” Douglas smiled to himself, remembering the past fondly. “It took my mom ten long years, but she made Susan another one. Michael and Matt’s gerbils are also Blinkies.”
“Clones?”
Instead of responding, he presented Olivia with a question of his own. “Sparky, Susan’s new puppy?”
“Yeah? Cute retriever. Smart, too.”
“That’s Sparky the Fourth. Sparky the first died of hip dysplasia. Sparky the Second had arthritis in her hips.” Slowly, casually, he continued, “Lillian’s dog, Tian Tian? She’s Sparky the Third, and just a little arthritic. Well, this Sparky, she’s as healthy as a horse.”
“Genetic engineering?” *What are you really trying to tell me?* Olivia wondered, but refusing to go any further with her deductive skills. “Doesn’t that kind of work require a lot of funding? I thought Susan worked alone…”
“You met Alex’s cousin Ariel?”
Wouldn’t call that meeting. “I saw her in the hospital when Alex was there…” Abruptly, she shook her head, chasing away the horrible memory. “Poor Celine…” A daughter who decided she needed to catch up on her lost sleep, and a niece who never woke up.
“Celine was determined to prove the mother superior’s accusation false.” Douglas revealed. “Of course that woman was replaced very quickly. Nevertheless, my mom thought she could help.”
“Accusation?”
“That Maureen had broken her vow of chastity.”
“You mean she didn’t?”
He drained his glass, and poured another double. “Nope.”
“Immaculate conception?” She knew it was a misnomer, but it was as good as any.
“No. Parthenogenesis.”
“What’s that?”
“Greek for virgin birth.” Tossing his drink back, and filling his tumbler again. “According to Susan, a Charles Bonnet discovered it in the 1700’s.”
Almost inhaling her scotch, Olivia choked, “What?”
“For aphids, it’s apparently a fact of life.” Douglas cringed, then smiled bitterly. “I guess, for us humans, it’s a miracle.”
*In a little while, I’m going to wake up from this nightmare and be in my own bed,* Olivia hoped. Still, she managed to observe, “And you’re having issues with miracles?”
“Maybe there aren’t that many differences between mice and men.” He ran his fingers along the edges of his glass, but decided against picking it up. “We certainly do enough experiments on them for our benefit. There must be enough similarities between the two species.”
“We’re not going get into a political discussion, are we?”
“Nor a moral one.” Twisting his lips into another smile. “But how would you feel, if you were a man? One day someone might decide ‘gender-cide’ is all right.”
*Is there even such a word?* “I’m sure there are always going to be enough straight people in this world.” She grinned, and kicked him lightly on the shin. “And you’re a hundred percent likable lovable guy.”
“Thanks, Olivia,” he gave his friend a small nod, “But we’re digressing. Weren’t you having all sorts of issues about the ‘random sperm’?”
“I was having issues about sperm, period.” Staring into her drink, she admitted. “But I wanted little Alex’s, and she didn’t want me chasing down perps pregnant.”
“Maybe Alex mentioned it to Susan…”
“But we talked about in vitro,” Olivia contested, “And I didn’t want her to go through that kind of invasive procedure. How could she…”
“We already went through this earlier, Liv.” Douglas reminded, “Legally, Alex’s body belongs to Alex.”
“Could you please stop saying that?”
“But, Olivia, it’s the truth.”
“So what are you telling me? That my daughter’s a Frankenstein experiment?”
“Or a miracle? After all, it had already happened once in the family.” He speculated. “Or your friend M.E. Warner did make a mistake? Didn’t you say she burnt some serious midnight oil for you? If that’s the case, you and Alex were in Santa Monica visiting your friend Hank that May. Perhaps he’s the donor.”
“But you think Susan could possibly…”
“Scientific advancement is limited only by our imagination.” His gaze returned to the photograph on his desk. “At least that’s my belief.”
“Then aren’t you holding up progress by keeping this a secret?”
“I told you, no questions.” He chugged the rest of his alcohol. “Besides, I don’t legislate. I only try to get the courts to see my way.”
“Still…”
“Would you want my sister to spend the rest of her life locked up in some government or some terrorist’s lab designing super soldiers?”
“Of course not!”
“So, the way I see it, you have two choices,” Douglas straightened in his chair and put on his lawyer hat, “Tell Alex about our little trip to the sperm bank, and their settlement offer. Since she has to sign and approve it anyway. Then ask for the truth.”
Olivia whispered, “Or?” Though she already knew the answer.
“Pretend this never happened, let the lab off the hook, and go on with your happy life.” He tapped her knee gently with the toe of his shoe. “Aren’t you happy with your life?”
Deliriously. “Never thought I could be any happier, ever.”
“Then, My Friend,” the litigator smiled confidently, “You can’t lose, either way.”
To read more about the mice…
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20040419/mouse.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3643847.stm