-7-
During Alex's first weekend off, she and Olivia took a trip up to Branford, heading out the morning after the party. Alex drove, while Olivia fiddled with the satellite radio, and reveled in the sheer joy of being in a car, next to Alex, out of the city and with no work for a couple of days. While it was Alex who was moving to a new job, dealing with a transition, Olivia felt a weight had been lifted from her, too. Alex's goodbye to Munch the night before had been priceless, and Olivia knew that she'd be coming back on Monday to nosy questions from John and varying degrees of curiosity and amazement from the rest of the squad, but she was okay with that.
Alex was no longer their ADA, and as much as she'd relished their fiery professional confrontations over the years, she knew things had to happen this way. Alex was ready for the next step in her career, and Olivia was more than ready to be with Alex without any worries over any conflict of interest or inquiries from that jackass Tucker at IAB.
Alex looked over at her. "You sure you don't mind meeting the family so soon?"
"Soon?" Olivia laughed. "It's been twelve years, Alex."
"You know what I mean," Alex chided her. "It has, but it hasn't, and this seems like a big step."
"Alex, once I had the nerve to admit to you that I love you, admitting it to anyone else is a piece of cake. Your uncle is formidable, I'm sure, but he can't be anything compared to you."
"Well, it's really my aunt you'd have to worry about," Alex said, "but she will love you. So, I'm not worried at all. I just want you to be comfortable."
"They love you, so we have that in common already," Olivia said, and smiled, and all was right in Alex's world.
The weekend was lovely, and both Uncle Bill and Aunt Jean did love Olivia, as Alex had known they would. The two couples enjoyed a gorgeous Saturday on the boat, and a light dinner on the deck. When Jean began clearing the table, Olivia jumped up to help and found herself in the kitchen with Alex's fiercest protector, washing dishes and waiting for a conversation she knew was coming.
"So, Olivia, Alex has told me so much about you, I feel like I've known you for years," Jean began.
"I hope it wasn't all bad," Olivia joked. "Knowing each other for so long, Alex has seen the best and worst of me, I'm afraid."
"She's spoken highly of you," Jean said, and felt she was being a bit circumspect, but didn't want to be heavy-handed. Alex was a grown woman, even if Jean could still see a little girl every time she looked at her. Finally, Jean finished the last plate, and handed it to Olivia to dry while she drained the sink and wiped down the counter. Finished, she turned and looked at the detective in front of her.
"Olivia, maybe Alex is too old for me to be having any conversation about your intentions," she began. "But, she's my niece and I love her like she is my own, and only, child. And she'll kill me if she knows I had this discussion with you, but I do hope you have some idea how very long she's had feelings for you. She's not as tough and unaffected as she'd like everyone to think."
Olivia stopped drying, and put everything down on the counter, looking directly at Jean before speaking.
"I love her. I've loved her nearly the whole time I've known her. And I know we've taken a long time to get where we are, but I can't imagine ever hurting her. It would kill me."
She didn't say anymore. She couldn't, really, if she hoped to maintain any sort of control over her emotions. And there was no more to say, really. That was the entirety of the situation, as far as she was concerned. But she hoped it was the right thing to say. She knew how much Alex loved these people, how they had been her only family and her only support for so long, and on that alone, she knew they had to be wonderful. She was surprised, but beyond pleased, when Jean reached out to her and pulled her into a quick but firm hug.
"That's all I need to know," Jean said. "Now, let's grab dessert and get back out there before she comes in here. She's too smart for her own good."
Alex had noticed they'd been gone a while, knew what was happening because she knew her aunt couldn't possibly let this visit pass without doing whatever she had to do to vet Olivia, and make sure she was somewhere within shouting distance of the impossibly high standards Jean held for anyone who hoped to be close to her niece. But she stayed on the deck, chatting with her uncle, and decided to let it happen. Olivia could more than take care of herself, and she'd hear all about it later, anyway.
That night, in bed, Alex lay on her side, smiling at Olivia. "How did it go, babe?"
"The day?" Olivia asked. "Well, you tell me, do you think I passed inspection?"
"Oh, I know you did, but I didn't mean the day," she explained. "I meant the third degree that I know Aunt Jean gave you after dinner."
Olivia turned to face Alex. "It was fine, I think." She was quiet for a minute before continuing. "I don't really have a family, Alex, so meeting your aunt and uncle is important to me. It means a lot that you would bring me here. I can tell how much you love being with them. I feel closer to you here."
"I'm glad you came," Alex said. "It matters to me that you like them, that they love you, which they do. I knew when I saw the two of you come back outside with dessert that whatever you'd told her had been the right thing."
"I was just honest, told her I'd loved you forever, that I'd never do anything to hurt you. I hope it was enough."
Alex kissed her. "It's more than enough."
Back in the city, Olivia had a week of work ahead of her before their trip to Baltimore. She was busy, working a case with Amaro that was exhausting both of them. She was worried about Nick. He didn't say much, but coming up on a year in SVU, she knew he was still sometimes struggling with the things their victims had gone through. He was pretty sensitive, for a cop, and she knew he sometimes saw the faces of his wife, or his daughter, or his sister, when they interviewed victims.
Their working relationship was a good one, and Olivia was feeling that things had gone as well as they could have for her, getting a new partner after so many years with Elliot. She missed him, still, but dwelling on it hadn't been any help at first and she'd had to just move on. Nick was dealing with some trouble at home, and she worried over him. It wasn't like her, really, but she was okay with it. Things were going so well for her that she felt she had a little happiness to spare, and a little care to give, so she made it known to Nick that she was an ear if he needed anyone to listen.
She'd grown closer to Rollins, as well, and felt like this was her first chance to mentor someone. Amanda was a talented detective, whip-smart and absolutely fearless, but she dealt with all of the same things Olivia did, as a woman on the job. Sex crimes, especially, was a tough row to hoe. They got along well and Liv hoped she could be a help to Rollins without being overbearing.
She missed seeing Alex at work, but seeing Alex at home more than made up for it. They still had two apartments—hadn't discussed getting rid of either of them, and probably wouldn't for a while. But they spent nearly every night together, and that hadn't required too much negotiation. The location was determined by who was where, and working how late, and what the next day held for each of them. They both had stuff strung from one apartment to the other, so it felt like they were living in two homes, not visiting. Olivia's favorite book was now on the shelf at Alex's, and the attorney's favorite DVDs were slowly but inexorably making their way over to Olivia's place, one at a time.
Olivia had wrangled a whole week off in preparation for their visit to Baltimore, but she hadn't told Alex yet. She thought she might surprise her, spirit her away somewhere to decompress after their few time in Maryland. Something told her they'd both need a break, some downtime, after the trip, and she was trying to think of someplace to go.
Having a week off, though, meant that she was hustling all week ahead of the trip to try to wrap up the case she and Nick were on, as well as to make sure that all of her i's were dotted and her t's were crossed on everything else before she could enjoy the time away.
She did manage to grab time away on Wednesday evening for a late dinner with Alex and Kate. They'd bumped into Alex's friend once since they'd begun seeing each other, and Olivia knew that Alex had been happy to break the news to Kate that things were going well for them, but there hadn't been much time to hang out and visit. They met for Italian—Olivia loved how much Alex loved food, and couldn't imagine where she put all the pasta she consumed because it wasn't visible anywhere on her body—and she found Kate charming, and funny, and could see why Alex loved her so.
Kate, for her part, knew that Alex was as happy as she'd ever been, and could see from the way that Olivia greeted her when she arrived at the restaurant to meet them, could tell from the adoring looks she gave Alex when they were talking, that this one just might stick. She'd been afraid, knowing how much Alex had built this up in her mind, but a couple of hours with the detective eased her mind entirely.
They were lingering over dessert, discussing the trip to Baltimore—Kate shared Olivia's concerns, but could tell that Alex was determined to do this, and was glad Olivia would be along to share the trip with her friend. Just after they'd begun to make noises about heading home, with Olivia and Kate needing to work early the next morning, Kate saw someone enter the restaurant and said, "Shit. Perfect."
Olivia looked, too, over Alex's shoulder, but didn't know what had caught Kate's attention, and her ire.
Now Alex looked, then turned around with an expression that had gone from lighthearted and happy to supremely annoyed in less than five seconds.
"Who is it?" Olivia asked.
"Madeline," Alex answered. "The woman I was seeing after I broke off my engagement with Robert." Olivia only knew what Alex had told her, but on that basis alone, she didn't care for the woman. Alex had portrayed her as someone who was uniformly horrible, and she had treated Alex badly, taking advantage of her unsettled emotional state to gain the upper hand in their brief but passionate relationship.
"I hate that bitch," Kate said, and based on the reaction of Alex's best friend, Olivia knew that the whole thing had been every bit as ugly as Alex had indicated. "I hope she won't come over here."
"She will," Alex said, but didn't sound happy. "I haven't seen her in forever, but she can never resist any opportunity to ruin an evening."
And, as predicted, Madeline arrived at the table not a minute later, with a much younger woman in tow who was clearly her lover. She eyed the group before speaking to Alex.
"Well, Alexandra Cabot, aren't you as lovely as ever?" she said. "Won't you get up and give me a hug?"
"Hello, Madeline," she said, and rose reluctantly to offer a perfunctory hug. "You know Kate Merritt," she said." Kate and Madeline only nodded at one another, clearly no love lost between them. Before Alex could speak again, Madeline interrupted, looking at Olivia.
"And who is this?"
Alex reached out her hand to Olivia, and Olivia took it, standing up next to her. She sensed that Alex could use a bit of support here—this woman was domineering and more than a little unpleasant. "This is my girlfriend, Detective Olivia Benson. Olivia, honey, this is Madeline Taylor."
Olivia held out her right hand, keeping hold of Alex with her left, and shook Madeline's outstretched hand. "Pleased to meet you, I'm sure. Alex has told me so much about you." If the whole thing hadn't been so tense, Olivia would have enjoyed the smirk on Kate's face.
"I'm surprised," Madeline said. "Things were a bit intense when Alex and I were lovers, and she normally likes to keep that sort of thing to herself." Now Madeline's lover looked bewildered and intimidated, like she'd wandered into a soap opera or something. She was obviously punching out of her weight class in this relationship. Kate and Olivia were both instantly furious, while Alex just looked like she wanted to fall through a hole in the floor.
Olivia was determined not to let this woman have the final word, to embarrass Alex this way. "Well," she began, "I know what you mean. Alex does tend to want to protect people. But she's gotten much better lately about letting people know when she doesn't like them, haven't you sweetie?" Alex's smile was priceless. "She didn't seem to have any trouble telling me what kind of person you are. How about you, Kate?"
Kate's response was gleeful. "Oh, she was very forthcoming about what a horrible, malicious bitch you are, Madeline."
Madeline looked stunned, and Alex had recovered herself long enough to deliver the final blow.
"Have a wonderful, evening, Madeline," she said. "Don't I get a hug goodbye?"
Madeline turned, not saying another word, never having introduced her girlfriend. She left, not just the table, but the restaurant.
Kate and Alex both looked at Olivia. "What was that?" Alex finally asked.
"I know you sometimes take a while to decide on your impression of a person, Al," she answered. "Me, not so much. I just didn't want to prolong the agony."
Now Alex laughed, and Kate joined in. And they both knew, if they'd had any room for doubt, that Alex's judgment—and her taste in women—had improved dramatically over the past several years.
Alex enjoyed the rest of her week off, and got some errands run, did laundry for both of them, and saw her shrink. Twice.
The trip to Baltimore was looming, and she knew she had to do it, but wasn't ashamed to admit that it scared the hell out of her.
"What are you hoping to gain?" Dr. Jackson had asked.
"I want to be home," Alex had answered.
"Interesting," the shrink had replied. Alex hated that word coming out of the therapist's mouth. It always either meant, that was totally uninteresting and I lost track of what you were saying, or it meant you are so far beyond fucked up that I'm mentally reviewing the minimum requirements to initiate a 24-hour hold. "You think of Baltimore as home?"
Alex just looked at her.
"No, God no," she finally answered. "I feel like I have to do this so I can be home here, and never think of that place again."
