It was the bombshell that I'd never have expected. It was incredible. Kathy and Elliot separating was a dream I'd harboured for so long, and yet I'd never thought in a million years that it would actually happen.

All the same, although my heart was completely swept away by the news, my head was shouting louder. Pointing out to me - brutally I thought - that Elliot might have been single again, he might have been back on the market, but in spite of that fact he'd never picked up the phone and called. Never driven to find his daughter and I and made us a family. No. It had taken Alex, of all people, and her crazy plotting for me to discover this latest turn on events, so why would I think that it changed anything? Why would I think he'd want to be with me?

Before I had chance to ask that question however Huang was placing Lottie back in my arms and Alex was chivvying both Elliot and I towards the Captain's office. I looked at her questioningly and she smiled,

"You need to talk, and we wanted you to be able to do it in style…"

I was momentarily confused but as I stepped into the office, I saw exactly what she meant. The room had been decked out with candles and fairy lights, and by the Captain's couch was a small table holding an ice bucket, champagne, flutes and strawberries. I groaned, finding Alex's endless cheek unbelievable.

"She's too much!"

"She may well be." I felt Elliot's arms wrap around my waist as he came up behind me, resting his head on my shoulder, "But she's gone to so much trouble. We shouldn't let it go to waste."

I turned to him, unable to resist smiling, "You said that to me this time last year, about the Chris de Burgh song… and look how that ended up…"

"It ended up," he said softly, looking down at the baby in my arms, "with us becoming parents to this gorgeous little girl. So I'd say Alex's track record is pretty damn good."

For all I was sceptical myself, not about my little girl but about Elliot and I and where were stood, I couldn't miss the love in his eyes as he looked at Lottie, and so I walked over to Cragen's couch, sitting down and then smiling up at him said, "You want to come and hold your baby while I pour the champagne."

He nodded eagerly, sitting down beside me, so I could hand Lottie to him. Once I'd done so, I picked up the champagne bottle, but I couldn't take my eyes off of the two of them. It looked so right for him to be there, holding her.

It was what had been missing from our lives all along. Mine and Lottie's. We'd been missing Elliot.

That particular thought was enough to cause tears to well up in my eyes, and, as I poured the champagne I realised I had tears trickling down my cheeks. Elliot must have noticed too because he reached out and squeezed my leg supportively.

"You're crying." He said gently.

I looked at him, the tears still snaking down my cheeks, "You're divorced." It seemed like the only thing I could say.

That said, he was quick to correct me, shaking his head slightly, "I will be. Soon. Its all going through right now." He slid closer to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "I owe you an explanation. Let me tell you all about it."

*** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU **

She looked at me expectantly, clutching her champagne flute in her hands. Knowing Liv like I did, I knew exactly what she was thinking. She wanted to know why, if I was single, I'd not bothered to track her down. And, well, I suppose it was a valid question, but I'd had my reasons.

"March was Hell." I began, remembering the first month I'd had without her. "I moped. Bickered with Kath. Made her life hell. Made everyone's life hell in fact. Ask the guys, Alex, the four partners I've been through since you left."

"You missed me?" She asked, hesitantly, tentatively, like she was scared that I'd say no. Like that would ever happen.

I nodded, "Missed you like I'd miss a shot off body part. April and May were pretty shitty too. Kathy had started being a bitch back by that point. So that was fun."

I thought back, trying to remember exactly what came next, "June - July - August were better. I was resigned to you being gone. Realised I had to try and move on."

She looked at me pensively, "I hated June, July and August. That was when it finally hit me that you were gone and I didn't much like it. I didn't like moving on."

I cuddled her closer, "It didn't do much for me either really, but I pretended it did. Mind you, September." I let out a low whistle, "September was really horrific." I looked down at the baby in my arms, "I hated not being there when you were giving birth to her."

She smiled at that, "I doubt you'd be saying that if you had been there." She laughed slightly, "The air was blue."

I could believe it. Kathy had been vocal enough when she gave birth to our kids, but I could imagine Olivia being even more so. But actually, that made me sad I'd missed it all the more. I would have liked to have been there for her, and I told her so.

She sipped her champagne, and laughed the laugh I'd missed so much, "No. Really. I broke the nurses hand."

I laughed too then, "Really."

"Well, I bruised it. A lot." she demurred as she reached out for my hand then, squeezing it although luckily not to breaking point, "But seriously, I wish you'd been there too. It would have been nice." She looked at me hesitantly, "But that was September, and this is only December, so you wanna tell me what's happened in the past three months."

I took a deep breath, knowing that she probably wouldn't like what was going to come next.

"Kathy found the picture you sent of Lottie. Put two and two together. She threw me out."

"When?" She was trying to keep her tone light, but I could tell from the way that her body had stiffened at my words that something had changed. That she was reacting just as I'd feared she would.

"The week after Lottie was born." I replied, "She knew I was off kilter. She knew something was wrong. She went through my stuff."

She put her champagne glass down on the table with such a resounding thunk that I was amazed that it didn't shatter and without another word as good as wrestled my baby from my arms, getting to her feet again, a grey cloud suddenly appearing over her head as she made to leave.

Made to walk away from me. Again.

I couldn't let it happen. I just couldn't.

*** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU **

I felt like my heart was breaking. Even though I'd had my doubts when I'd first heard about his divorce, I'd hoped, seriously hoped, that I was wrong. That he was divorcing HER because he wanted me. Finding out that it had been her not him who had ended the marriage was just unbearable. So unbearable I could hardly breathe.

I had to get out of there. Get away from him, and all the lost hopes and dreams. Plus find Alex and put an axe through her head.

But before I could, I felt a hand on my arm,

"Liv…" he pulled me to him and back into his arms, although as soon as I felt his touch I started to struggle and didn't stop until he spoke again, "the day she threw me out, I'd resigned. I'd told Cragen I was leaving. I was going to go home, tell her, and come and find you."

I wanted to believe him, it sounded like too insane a story for him to have made it up, but I'd been disappointed too many times in the past, besides which,

"You didn't come and find me though did you?"

He sighed, "Liv, I knew that if you found out Kathy had thrown me out, you'd be like this. Think I only wanted you on some crazy rebound. You'd never have believed that I was intending on going anyway." He looked at me, and although I didn't want to see it, I couldn't miss it. He looked like his heart was breaking too. "Please Liv." he leaned in, brushed his lips against mine, "Believe me."

I felt a lump rising in my throat. I wanted to, so much. Certainly the pieces were falling into place, and everything he said made sense.

"Prove it to me." I whispered.

He groaned, "How can I prove it? How can I prove I would have left her?"

"Would this help?" The question came from the door, where Cragen was stood, a piece of paper in his hand. He moved to my side and held it up in front of me, seeing that holding Lottie left me with no free hands to take it from him. I scanned the words typed on it and then looked at Elliot, "This is a resignation letter… dated a week after Lottie was born."

He smiled at me, "I know, I wrote it." He turned to Cragen, "I thought I told you to tear it up."

Cragen shrugged, "I thought you might need it some day. Of course," he added, "what this letter doesn't spell out, is why he was leaving, but as you can imagine Olivia, I didn't accept it without a fight."

I could see that. I remembered all too well the way he'd tried to make me stay with the department when I'd resigned 10 months previously, and could only imagine that he'd do the same for Elliot, I know he'd always valued us, as individuals as well as a team. "How did he convince you?" I asked curiously.

Cragen smiled, "By telling me he was leaving to be with the woman he loved."

*** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU **

So that was how the Captain saved the day, and helped me win over the mother of my child. Seconds later, we were reunited under some conveniently placed mistletoe (clearly a joint effort by Huang and Alex given the way they high fived as we kissed) and then headed back out to join the department Christmas Party, which ended up being something of a double celebration.

Even more so when I proposed to Olivia an hour later.

And therefore, while I still think the Christmas Party season can be at times dubious at best, these days I've still got a pretty soft spot for it too.

It gave me my wife and my daughter. How could I think otherwise?

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Finit! Sorry for the delay with this last chapter - I think I was just a bit reluctant to let it go! Hope it was worth waiting for!