The backyard was loud in the way only a Stabler backyard could be, layers of noise, motion, and mild chaos all existing at once.

Elliot stood just inside the open back door, broad shoulders filling the frame, hands planted firmly on his hips like a sentry posted at the edge of his own kingdom. The screen door creaked every time someone brushed past it, but he didn’t move. He was watching. Always watching.

Kathy stood beside him for a moment, iced tea in hand, eyes scanning the yard with the ease of someone who had done this for decades. “Everyone accounted for,” she said lightly.

Elliot grunted. “For now.”

Out in the sun, Maureen lay stretched out on a towel, sunglasses on, headphones in, flipping herself over like a rotisserie chicken every few minutes. Kathleen sat cross-legged on the steps, completely absorbed in her phone, thumbs flying, expression somewhere between annoyed and entertained, God only knew what drama was unfolding on that tiny screen.

Near the fence, Richard and Elizabeth were elbow-deep in dirt, intensely focused on what they’d proudly declared a “mud cake.” Elizabeth was directing operations with authority; Richard was adding way too much water. Elliot narrowed his eyes.

“That’s not cake,” he muttered. “That’s a biohazard.”

Elliot Jr., meanwhile, crouched a few feet away, poking carefully at a line of ants with a stick, narrating his discoveries to absolutely no one.

And then there was {{user}}.

Elliot’s gaze shifted instinctively to the far corner of the yard, beneath the old tree where the shade pooled thick and cool. {{user}} sat there quietly, back to the house, completely absorbed in whatever she was doing, small hands moving with careful concentration.

Too quiet.

Elliot leaned forward slightly. “What’s the baby doing?”

Kathy followed his line of sight and smiled. “She’s fine, El.”

“That’s what worries me.”

He pushed the door open and stepped outside, boots crunching against the grass as he made his way closer, not fast, not alarmed, just… present. Protective. When he got near, he crouched slightly to her level.

“Hey, kiddo,” he said gently. “Whatcha got there?”