I dont think should, or will, write Mariska's pregnancy into the story. *There have been press releases that said that they would not.*
If they wrote it in... it would be disasterous. Oy. They would have to make Olivia pregnant somehow, which leaves us with three concievable (no pun intended) options:
A. Boyfriend: Ew. I'm not saying that Olivia should have a boyfriend (although I'm sure some of us would love for Olivia to have a girl... but thats another topic for another day
). But if she suddenly conjured a boyfriend out of thin air, and then that boyfriend magically got her preggers, that would be awfully fast, yes? Wouldn't say much for Olivia. It would make her seem kind of careless. Don't want that happening. So, strike one.
B. Rape. Ew. Also don't want that to happen to Olivia, now do we? It would make her feel guilty I think, bringing a child into the world under the same circumstances as she was. Not the way to go, especially for the topic of the show. Strike two.
C. Donor. Ew number three. Biggest factor: Now isn't the right time for Olivia to have a baby. She still hasn't come to terms with her lineage, and I think she would have a HUGE problem *still* passing on her genes to a child. Especially mixed with the genes of a random stranger.
Strike three.
The writers and producers could also consider a fourth option, adoption, but that still wouldn't explain the belly. Overall, I don't think Olivia should have a child right now. She's not ready, and neither are we.
Now, since they aren't writing Mariska's little bundle of joy into the show, then what? They're going to have to hide it as best they can. And they have options for that as well.
A. Less Mariska: Not a factor now because she isn't showing yet, but the easiest (not necessarily the best) option for the writers is to give Olivia some sort of long term assignment that would have her out of the squad room, even New York, for an extended period of time. She is an expert in her field, after all, so not completely unfathomable. And yet, not the best option to please the option.
B. Really Big Purse. I saw this suggestion on another board, and laughed. That would have to be a BIG purse, and what would Olivia have that for anyway? Elliot carries her purse, remember? But of course, what we are really refering to is the oldest trick in the book: carefully planned shots. Behind counters, chest up, behind the interrogation room window, etc.
We will, no matter what course of actions the producers take, be seeing less Olivia chase scenes, less raids, less heavy lifting, etc. That is just a given.
So, the only question left is: What in the world are they going to do?