A/N: Alex celebrates her birthday. Feeling this one out while I debate a direction to take. Oh, and if you haven't noticed, I'm doing something slightly different. I typically write from the Olivia POV (or a mix). I'm trying to stay in the Alex POV primarily, though I'm sure it'll be a hybrid at times. I can't think of another story where I've told the story primarily from Alex's POV. Wanted to try something different.

Tomorrow night is the Alex episode, I wouldn't expect a new chapter before then (or tomorrow night after).


CHAPTER 2

It was early Thursday after and Alex's birthday. She had made plans with Olivia and Noah for Saturday since neither of their schedules was going to allow them to get too much time away that evening.

Olivia had offered to bring lunch by, but it was Alex's such luck that a long-winded defense attorney caused court to go long, which set the rest of her day behind.

When she returned to her desk, she found a bundle of flowers on her desk and Mark came in right after she did with a vase full of water.

"I was just trying to get these in water for you," he said. "I don't know much about flowers, but I know water is good."

Alex chuckled and took the vase from it. "Thank you, I'll take care of it," she said. "Where did they come from?"

"Oh, there is a card with it," he said, reaching on the desk where he'd sit the card earlier with 'Happy Birthday Alex' on it. "Some guy from downstairs just brought them up."

"A delivery guy?" Alex asked.

"No, one of the security officers downstairs said someone asked him to bring them to you," Mark said. "He didn't tell me who, just gave me this card."

"Hmm," Alex said, though she had her suspicions of who had sent them after seeing the handwriting on the card. "Well, thank you for taking care of it."

"You're welcome," Mark said. "Oh, and Happy Birthday, Ms. Cabot. I didn't know or I'd have..."

"You didn't need to do anything," Alex said cutting him off. "I'd be perfectly happy to forget it myself. And please...call me Alex."

Mark smiled bashfully and nodded, Alex knowing he still probably wouldn't use her first name. He left her office and she sat at her desk, sliding a finger into the envelope.

Alex,

I'm sorry we couldn't celebrate today, but I just wanted to wish you a proper Happy Birthday on the actual day. You only turn 29 once...or in our case...lots of times! Noah and I are looking forward to seeing you Saturday.

Liv

P.S. I started to drop this off to you before realizing people seeing me dropping flowers off at your desk may prompt some questions...if not about us, then about your birthday. Hopefully, Officer Jones downstairs gets these to you.

Alex smiled and put the card back in the envelope. They hadn't really talked about the implications of their relationship yet, though it was always something they had to address every time they tried dating. It was one of the realities of their jobs that Alex sometimes wished didn't exist.

But she also knew it was probably for the best. They'd been down this road before, tried dating before, and even though Alex was convinced things were different this time, it was still early in their relationship.

Sure, she'd invited Olivia in the other night, but they spent most of the evening drinking wine, talking, laughing and listening to music. They kissed and spent time reconnecting physically, but neither of them seemed to be in a hurry for sex just yet, even if it came naturally for them. They decided to wait and both felt good about that decision.

Alex pulled out her phone and sent a text to Olivia.

Thank you for the beautiful flowers, Liv. You're going to spoil me! Looking forward to seeing you and Noah Saturday to celebrate my 29th birthday - haha!

#

Saturday morning brought pouring rain to Manhattan. All the plans Alex had with Noah and Olivia were rained out, but they insisted Alex come over and they would still throw her a great party.

Alex braved the rain just before noon and made her way up to Olivia's apartment and while she was putting her umbrella away before knocking on the door, she could hear Noah and Olivia talking on the other side of the door.

"Mommy, we forgot this sign!" Noah's small muffled voice was heard.

"Oh, hand it to me," Olivia said. "Alex will be here soon."

Alex smiled as she heard the shuffling inside the apartment. She waited until it was quiet again until she knocked.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Mommy! Hide!" Noah was heard again.

"I have to open the door, you hide," Olivia said before shushing him.

A few moments went by and Olivia opened the door for Alex, who greeted the brunette with a smirking saying she heard everything.

"Alex, how nice to see you," Olivia said loudly for Noah's benefit. "Come on in."

Alex took a few steps inside and then Noah jumped out from under the breakfast bar.

"Surprise!" he said. "Happy Birthday!"

Alex put her hand on her chest and widened her eyes, making sure she looked good and surprised by Noah's announcement.

"Thank you, Noah," Alex said, giving the small boy a hug. She looked around the apartment and saw balloons and banners. "Fabulous at 50?" She glanced at Olivia.

"It sounded better than Nifty 50," Olivia said. "And...you are fabulous." She leaned over and gave Alex a kiss on the cheek while Noah was distracted by the balloons.

Alex gave her a playful eye roll as she hung up her raincoat and put her purse and umbrella way. "So, what do we have planned for today?"

"I know how much you love brunch, I was just about to finish whipping up some omelets, bacon is about to come out of the oven and I have orange juice for Noah and um, special orange juice for us," Olivia said.

"Oooh, birthday mimosas?" Alex said.

"You bet," Olivia said. "After that, Noah has picked out some games for us to play," she gave a playful cringe to Alex, "and there will definitely be cake and ice cream. Homemade cake."

"Wow, you outdid yourself," Alex said.

"You haven't tried the cake yet. Noah helped, so we'll see how it turned out," Olivia said. "He helped decorate it, too."

"I can't wait," Alex said.

"Alex, can I show you my balloon game?" Noah said handing a helium balloon to Alex. "It's like basketball."

"Oh, that sounds fun," Alex said. She winked at Olivia and went off with Noah to the living room to play 'basketball.'

#

After brunch, several games of pin the tail on the donkey, a pinata and more balloon basketball, and lots of cake and ice cream, Noah was tuckered out - and so were Alex and Olivia.

"He is worn out," Olivia said, after carrying Noah to the bedroom for a nap. He had fallen asleep on the couch. "But, he'll be up and probably full of energy again soon enough."

"I'm worn out, too," Alex said. "I may also need a nap."

"You're welcome to take one," Olivia said. "I mean, you are over the hill now." She smirked at Alex, who threw a napkin from her cake plate across the kitchen at her.

"And you are?"

"Oh, I've been over the hill," Olivia said. "I can accept that."

"Actually, I don't know how you have the energy you do between SVU and Noah," Alex said.

"Well, I have a lot of help," Olivia said. "Lucy is a godsend and Noah and I don't usually go like this every weekend...only special weekends."

Alex got up and wandered around to the kitchen where Olivia was. "Why don't you let me clean up this and you rest? You've already done so much today."

"Not a chance," Olivia said. "This is your day...and only the first half. Noah and I promised you a full day of activities, so I thought later, we could have a nice dinner and watch a movie."

"By movie, do you mean cartoons?" Alex said.

"Nope," Olivia shook her head. "Noah and I have a deal that we do his stuff part of the day and mine the rest. So when I want to watch tv or read, he puts his headphones on and watches videos on the table, so we still get to snuggle on the couch together, but I get to watch something besides animated characters from time to time."

"Oh, that sounds good. What did you have in mind?" Alex asked.

"When Harry Met Sally?" Olivia offered.

"Aw, you remembered," Alex said. It was one of her favorite movies, and usually made the blonde teary-eyed.

Olivia gave Alex a cocked-headed smile. "Of course. So, why don't you take a nap if you want and let me finish up in here?" she said. "My bed has fresh sheets on it if you want to lay down."

"Are you going to take a nap at any point?" Alex said casually, not wanting to seem like she was coming on to Olivia - she wasn't.

"If Noah is still asleep when I'm done...I could use a nap, yes," Olivia said.

"Well, um, if you need to kick me out of bed...feel free," Alex said, a little embarrassed.

"Ha! As if anyone has ever kicked Alex Cabot out of bed," Olivia laughed.

"Oh really? Because I seem to recall a time when..." Alex started while laughing and Olivia shushed her.

"Yeah, let's not talk about that," Olivia said. "Now, go nap like every good 50-year-old deserves."

"You're not going to let that die, are you?" Alex said, rolling her eyes.

"Probably not today, at least," Olivia said. "But next time I throw out my back, you can get your revenge."

#

Alex was drifting between sleep and awake when she felt Olivia crawl onto the bed next to her. She smiled because she was hoping the brunette would nap with her and not on the couch. Alex laid there until she felt an arm draped over her back, then she rolled on her side to face Olivia and moved closer.

"Thank you for everything today, Liv," Alex said. "You've given me a 50th birthday to remember."

"I'm sure most people our age don't celebrate their birthdays by playing pin the tail on the donkey," Olivia said laughing.

"It was perfect," Alex said. "It reminded me this age is just a number."

Olivia moved her hand up to Alex's head, pushing her hair back behind her ears. "It is and I meant it when I said you looked fabulous for 50. You're as beautiful today as when we met all those years ago."

"Well, I know I have more wrinkles and lines, but I definitely have better hair," Alex said.

Olivia smiled and pulled Alex in closer. Both women closed their eyes for a short nap before Noah woke up ready to go again.

#

"Mommy."

Alex woke up to hear Noah calling for Olivia in a quiet voice next to the bed. She briefly wondered what he was thinking, the two of them cuddled up together.

Olivia stirred and opened her eyes. "Yes, Noah? What's wrong?"

"I don't feel good," Noah said, holding his stomach.

"Oh, sweet boy, did you eat too much cake and ice cream earlier?" Olivia said.

Noah shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. Of course, Olivia wondered if he hadn't overdone it.

"Come here, let me feel of you," she said, putting a hand to his forehead then feeling this palms. "You feel a little warm and clammy, but I don't think you have a fever. Is your belly hurting? Show me?"

Noah used a finger to circle pretty much his entire upper body.

"How about you go lay back down and I'll get you some medicine and juice, OK?" Olivia said, sitting up on the side of the bed.

Noah nodded and left the bedroom.

"Poor guy," Alex said. "Now I feel bad my cake and ice cream made him sick."

"Please don't," Liv said. "He's been complaining about his tummy hurting for a couple of days, but it's usually been short-lived. I'll get him some medicine and see how he's going. Maybe he has a bug...or he ate too much and wore himself out. It's just life with a Kindergartener."

"Sounds entertaining," Alex teased.

"Do you know what else is entertaining?" Olivia said, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Alex smirked.

"This," Olivia said before leaning forward and kissing the blonde. "In fact, it's always been one of my favorite forms of entertainment."

"Well, we'll have to see what we can do about that later," Alex teased. "Won't we?"


As always, your reviews are appreciated. Love it, hate it, have ideas? Let me know with a comment or on twitter -rileyclocks!