edge15684: Thank you :) Sydney: Liv just might be pregnant, but my lips are sealed right now. :D NeverDreamsOfMe: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. It really meant a lot to me when you said I was keeping everything true to the era. I hold the '40s very near and dear to my heart. Sidle13: I promise not to make this anything like the movie Pearl Harbor. haha. E: I'm a bit of a history nerd and I'm so glad you enjoy this era as well. I'm actually surprised that no one else has written an EO story in this period. Call me crazy, but I actually thought the era would suit them well. :)

December 12, 1941

With one day left before Elliot was scheduled to leave, the two of them had wanted to take their mind off of the war and the turmoil of what was happening all around them. They had decided to meet his parents at a diner, but that outing proved to be more unnerving than Olivia had expected. It was a beautiful, albeit cold, day outside so the two of them decided to walk to the diner, which happened to be the same one they went to on their first date. While they were walking, Olivia couldn't help but notice the small banners hanging in the windows of the apartment buildings they passed. Each red and white banner had at least one star, some even had two or three. The amount of stars was symbolic for the amount of people that family had serving in the war. A blue star meant that family had someone serving in the war, but the gold stars were what broke Olivia's heart because a gold star meant that someone in that family had died fighting for their country. Olivia was proud of her husband and she had planned on hanging a blue star in her window, but she couldn't get her mind off of the possibility of having to hang a gold star instead.

"Olivia," Elliot said, stopping his wife in her tracks.

"Yes?" Olivia responded, taking some time to come out of her daze. "I'm looking at the stars."

"Looking at the stars?" Elliot teased. "In New York City in the middle of the day?"

"The stars in the windows," Olivia told him, making it obvious that his teasing didn't amuse her. "It's as if they appeared overnight."

"It's not the amount you're concerned with," he insisted.

"It's the colors," Olivia told him. "There are so many blue stars, but we've only walked half a mile and I've already seen two gold stars; two, Elliot! I've seen two gold stars and we've only walked half a mile. Can you imagine all of the gold stars in this city or even the entire country? It's been five days since the attack and everything has changed. What about the Novak family? Jack is still missing, Elliot. You see what that's doing to Casey. What if that happens to me? I don't want to hang a gold star."

"Then don't hang a gold star," Elliot said, still making light of the situation. "Blue is a better color."

"It's not the star itself," Olivia said, frustrated. "It's what the star symbolizes. Hanging that star symbolizes that my husband has left me."

Elliot pulled his wife aside and took her into his arms. Her hat was slightly covering her eyes, so he took it upon himself to remove it regardless of how much Olivia protested.

"I feel absolutely naked without it," Olivia told him, which only seemed to pique Elliot's interest.

"Not as much as you will be tonight," he responded and Olivia didn't know whether she should blush or smack him.

"Well, aren't you arrogant?" she asked. Olivia was trying to be stern, but she knew he could see right through her.

"Arrogant? Not in the slightest," Elliot insisted. "Tonight is my last night with you, my beautiful wife, and I know I'm not going to be able to resist you."

"I'm not going to be able to resist you either," Olivia told him. "Or maybe I should resist you. I don't want us to act as if we're making love to each other for the last time. If we don't make love, maybe you'll come home to me even faster."

"And if we do make love tonight, the memory of it will be so perfect that I'll fight even harder overseas and come home to you sooner."

"That's nonsense," Olivia said, trying unsuccessfully to hide her smile.

"You smiled," Elliot pointed out. "That's my girl."

"Elliot?"

"Yes?"

"Promise you'll come home to me."

"I promise," Elliot said nonchalantly.

"How can you just make a promise like that?" Olivia asked. Her smile was now disappearing and Elliot had no idea what to say to make her feel better.

"The reason I can make that promise is because, if I break it, what are you going to do to me?" he teased.

"Elliot!" Olivia said sternly.

"Look at me," he insisted, cupping his wife's face with his hands. "I love you, Olivia Stabler. I've only known you for a few weeks and I already love you more than I have ever loved anybody—my family included. Every day I spend with you is even better than the last, so why would I do something as foolish as get myself killed overseas? We have a long future ahead of us and I plan on being with you until we're both too senile to even remember that we're married. That's when I'll make you fall in love with me all over again."

There were so many things she wanted to tell him, but at that moment she felt as if there was a better way to respond. She leaned in and passionately kissed his lips. A group of preteen boys started to whistle as they passed by, but Olivia didn't care. Elliot held her close and told her that he hopes those boys are lucky enough to someday find a woman as great as his wife.

When Elliot and Olivia walked into the diner, they saw that his parents were already waiting for them. She had rehearsed different scenarios with Alex the day before, but she knew no amount of practice could fully prepare her for what was about to happen. She was finally going to meet her in-laws.

"Mom, Dad," Elliot said once they approached their table. "I'd like you to meet my Olivia." That two-letter word before her name may or may not have been an accident, but Olivia couldn't focus on anything else. She was truly his and when he returned she would still be his.

"She is absolutely beautiful," Mrs. Stabler said to Elliot.

"A real gem," Mr. Stabler added.

"Thank you," Olivia said shyly as Elliot pulled out her chair.

Mr. and Mrs. Stabler had already heard the story of how they met as well as different stories about their courtship, so Olivia was unsure of what they would talk about with her. She had expected several questions about her family, her job, her interests, but instead they ate their dinner in awkward silence. The Stablers weren't unfriendly people, or so Olivia assumed, and had they met under different circumstances they probably would have had plenty to talk about but tomorrow's events weighed on the minds of all four of them. Elliot leaving wasn't just affecting Olivia; his parents were affected as well. Just as Olivia was losing her husband, they were losing their son.

"I'd like to speak to my new daughter in private. Excuse us," Mrs. Stabler said as she led Olivia to the counter.

"I'm so pleased to finally meet you," Olivia said nervously once the two of them were alone.

"Likewise," Mrs. Stabler told her. "You're all Elliot talks about. Before every date, he spent hours getting ready. He made sure he was cleanly shaven and his clothes were perfectly pressed. When he brought out two shirts and asked me for my opinion, I knew you were something special. You bring out the best in my son. Everyone sees it. After every date, he'd come home smiling and then asked me to dance with him to a Glenn Miller record."

"He didn't?" Olivia asked in disbelief, her hand covering her mouth.

"He did!" Mrs. Stabler insisted. "How you kids dance to that rowdy music is beyond me."

"He's such a great son," Olivia said as her smile grew even wider.

"You know what they say: men who are great sons make great husbands and, eventually, great fathers," Mrs. Stabler insisted. "Speaking of Elliot being a great father, are you two…?"

Olivia had never expected her mother-in-law to be so upfront with her. Other people would have found her question inappropriate, but Olivia thought it was refreshing.

"We're certainly trying," Olivia said, barely able to believe her own words. In a matter of days, she had gone from being a virgin to being a married woman who was trying to conceive a baby with her husband.

"You have no need to be embarrassed, Olivia," Mrs. Stabler insisted. "You're a married woman and there's no greater blessing than having a child."

"Elliot would prefer us to wait," Olivia admitted. "He wants to be a father just as much as I want to be a mother, but he is worried about being unable to care for me when I'm pregnant."

"That's where I come in," the now beaming Mrs. Stabler told her daughter-in-law. "If you're having my grandchild, I want to make sure you're being cared for, Olivia. Even if you aren't expecting, I still want to become better acquainted with you."

"Thank you," Olivia said. "Truly."

"It's my pleasure, dear," Mrs. Stabler told her. "I'll even show you photographs of Elliot as a child."

"Oh, I'd love that," Olivia insisted.

She looked over at Elliot who was deep in conversation with his father. As much as she wanted him all to herself that day, she didn't mind spending time with his parents. Olivia's hours with her husband were limited, but she had planned on making the most of them. She knew she wouldn't be sleeping that night because the two of them wanted to cherish every last second they had together.