Chapter Ten

The next morning dawned bright and early. Olivia was buried underneath Elliot's arm, sleeping deeply. She groaned as she felt the sun hit her face. Elliot, too, was knocked out. She lifted her head, groaning again. ''So early for the sun to be up.'' There had been another marathon sex session that night. It had made her feel loads better. She pulled herself up out of bed and got some clothes out. After she ate breakfast she was going to shower. She liked how much better she had felt the day before, and she was all for a repeat of that.

When she got downstairs, Casey was in the kitchen, making coffee. ''Morning, Liv. Glad to see you got up out of bed this morning. So, how was last night? I found your panties right outside your bedroom door.'' Casey said, a slightly teasing tone in her voice.

Olivia blushed to the roots of her brown hair. She went to get something out to fix for breakfast. She got out some eggs, wondering if any of the kids were going to want some, too. She turned to Casey. ''Have you seen any of the older kids this morning?''

Casey shook her head. ''No, I haven't. Maureen said she was going to go back to her own apartment if we didn't need her, and Kathleen said she needs to get back to school, but we can call her if we need her.'' She added, ''And Dickie is still in his bedroom, I'm assuming.'' She said, ''He doing any better that you've noticed? He's been really quiet.''

Olivia had noticed, even in her really depressed state, he had stopped by her and El's bedroom every day to check on her. She knew he was taking this hard, too, it had been his twin sister that was murdered. She said, ''I haven't asked him, Casey. He seemed a little better yesterday.''

Elliot came into the kitchen, looking exhausted. He pointed a finger at his wife. ''You left the bed, Olivia. When I woke up there wasn't a beautiful and desirable woman lying next to me.'' He said, giving her a smile as he went to put his arms around her and give her a hug.

Olivia hugged tightly back. She wouldn't have been able to make it through this without him, he was her rock. She ran her hand through his hair and kissed his cheek. ''El, I want to tell you something.'' She said, as they parted, but El kept his arms tightly around her. She looked into his blue eyes. ''I want to tell you that I love you so very much. I never could have done this without you, and I won't be able to continue to make it through this without you. You are my rock. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone, except maybe the kids. I am so grateful for you.'' She kissed him as passionately as she could.

Elliot tried to keep tears from falling down his face. He said, ''Oh, Liv, I love you, too. I will never make it through this without you.'' He said, giving her a kiss on the mouth.

Casey said, ''Aw, that was just so sweet. And on that note, I have to get to work. I don't want to be late I've got a million cases to go over. So see you guys later. I most likely won't be home for dinner.'' She blew them both a kiss and headed out the door.

Elliot kissed Olivia one last time and went to get some coffee. ''So, do you think you'll be alright if I head back to work today? I'm ready to bury myself in it and I know John will be happy to give me back my job. He hates being in charge. There's no danger of John ever trying to take my place.'' He smiled softly as he got out a coffee cup.

Olivia began to mix up the eggs, to make scrambled, as Dickie came down, carrying Eli. He placed his brother in the high chair. Olivia smiled at him. ''Morning, Dick. Do you want some eggs?'' She asked.

Dickie looked up in surprise at her. ''Morning, Mom. I didn't...I'm glad you're up.'' He said, fighting back tears. He was very glad that his mother was feeling better. He had hated to see her like that.

The doorbell began ringing, and Dickie went to get it as they were joined by Maureen and the twins. She placed them in their high chairs and went to her mother, to kiss her cheek. ''I would have brought Scarlett, Mom, but she was still sleeping. So, I am off to my own apartment. If you need anything, let me know.'' She kissed both of her parents and her baby brothers and headed off out the door.
Dickie returned to the kitchen, bringing Fin with him. ''Mom, Fin has some wedding planning problems that he wants to get your opinion on.'' He said, as he grabbed a coffee cup to get some coffee.

Fin smiled at the sight of Olivia standing and cooking in the kitchen. Olivia was glad that she had grabbed a robe to wear after she had gotten up. He kissed her cheek and took the coffee cup that Elliot handed him. ''So, John and I are seeing the florist today, and I can't really decide on the flowers I want. I am stuck between lilies, roses, and daffodils.'' He pulled out some pictures of the arrangements they were allowed to choose from. ''I need you to pick out one you like, I need an opinion.''

As Olivia was staring at Fin's flower arrangements, she was taken back to her own wedding day. It had been beautiful.

It was a beautiful day. It was sunny and gorgeous. It had been on September 14th. She had picked out a beautiful church not far from their new house. Casey wore the most beautiful blue dress. It was simple and elegant, with elbow length sleeves and it was made of velvet. It had a full skirt and a simple bodice. Lizzie had worn a similar dress in a different color. Olivia had picked a sky blue and lilac for her colors. She wore a beautiful ivory dress, that she had gotten at a vintage wedding shop. It was from the forties, and she had worn a little hat with it, that her veil had been attached to.

Fin, who had been the best man, had a lilac tie with his tux, and the other best man, Munch, had a sky blue tie. Elliot wore neither, just a simple black and white tux. The church had been full of purple peonies, and Cragen had given her away. It was find of bittersweet and ironic now, since they now knew he was her father. George Huang had done them a favor and had gotten annointed on the internet and he was able to officiate. Melinda was their photographer. Olivia had wanted to include as many of their friends as possible. She thought it was a little upsetting that Brian had been in attendance, now they knew what he had been planning.

Olivia was snapped back to reality when Fin snapped his fingers at her. She smiled at him, at how gay he had looked doing that. He usually wasn't that sterotypical. She said, ''I'm sorry, Fin, it just got me to thinking about my own wedding. It was just beautiful. You will want yours to be as awesome.'' She took a better look at the flowers he'd held out. ''I say use lilies. They're the prettiest.'' She said.

Fin said, ''Thanks, Livvy, I appreciate the opinion.'' He kissed her cheek and sat down at the kitchen table. ''So, when are you coming back to work, El? John's getting awful tired of doing your job. He completely hates it.'' He added, taking a sip of the coffee he had poured in his cup.

Elliot said, ''Good, because I'm coming back today. I am ready, and I know that John's getting tired of doing it. I'm sure he's been complaining about it every chance he gets.'' He knew that John loved them, and he had loved Lizzie, but he was sure to be complaining a lot about being in charge. He absolutely hated that part of the job.

Fin chuckled. ''Yes, it's been very annoying. He loves you guys, and he loved Lizzie with all of his heart, but he really hates working that captain's position. He'll be glad to know you'll be back. You guys heard from Jump Street?'' He asked, hoping that that wouldn't drag the mood down too much.

Olivia and Elliot shared a look. Olivia was all for telling him, Fin was family. She and Elliot decided they would, without a word. She said, ''Yeah, yesterday. Hanson says they've got a couple of suspects in mind. They're trying to get involved with their drug ring, so they can get closer to them. It will take awhile, but I think they'll get Lizzie's killer and or killers, and put them away. I'm not worried about the trial, Alex is going to catch that.'' She said.

Fin nodded. ''Oh, did Alex tell you? She finally got herself a date.'' He knew that Alex hadn't told them yet about her orientation, but he knew she would now that she had a date with this woman. Her name was Rosie. He said, ''She's really excited about it. She's going to be telling you about it today.'' He said.

Olivia was happy for Alex. She had been starting to wonder if maybe Alex batted for the other team. Not that that was a bad thing, it wasn't. It was just, she wanted Alex to be happy. And even if she was a lesbian, she hadn't had any dates with any females, either. They'd only known her to date Trevor Langan, and that had been awhile ago. She said, ''That's good. I was starting to wonder if Alex was batting for the other team.'' She knew Fin would keep that to himself, and she and Elliot had discussed it before.

Fin froze for a minute, and only Elliot caught it, Olivia had gone back to the eggs. His eyes got a little wide as he realized that Elliot had caught him. He gave Elliot a pleading look, and Elliot smiled at him, liking the position his best friend was in. Fin said, ''Um, yeah, I'll let Alex tell you about it. Smells good, Livvy, you got some for your big brother?'' He asked, trying desperately to change the subject. He hoped that Olivia didn't know about Alex's feelings for her. That wouldn't be good, Alex would be mortified.

Elliot laughed to himself as Olivia dished out the eggs, handing Fin a plateful, and some toast. He knew it. He had suspected for years that Alex was into Olivia. He was glad that she had moved on, though. He wanted her to be happy. If she was still mooning over Liv, that wasn't going to be possible. He was glad that Olivia hadn't caught Fin's look, she would have known that Alex was a lesbian, too. He knew that Alex was going to want to tell them herself, especially Liv. She would want to make sure that Liv knew she was happy. He said, ''OK, guys, I'm going to let you have a nice breakfast, I'm going to go get ready for work. Have fun with your brother, Livvy.'' He gave her a kiss and gave a smile to a relieved looking Fin as he left the kitchen, chuckling.

Callie was just arriving at the precinct, coffee in hand. She had been informed that Elliot was coming back to work that day, and she was ready to put things behind them. She was finally ready to move on from Elliot. Her talk with Ace yesterday had really been an eye opener. She was tired of mooning over someone who didn't want her. She knew his main objective behind that talk was to get her to take him back, but she wasn't going to do that. She was going to get herself someone new. She was feeling pretty good this morning.

When she entered the squadroom, only Munch was there. He was leaving Elliot's office, looking happy. He said, ''Morning, Curtis. Elliot's coming back today, I get to just go back to my desk.'' He looked over the moon.

Callie nodded. ''I know, your fiancee told me. He just texted me. I'm going to make sure that El knows I'm moving on today. I am ready to stop being crazy in love with him and just move on. It is helping no one. I need to make our working relationship better.'' She said.

Munch thought that was a sound plan. ''I think that's a good idea, Callie. He is married, and you never had a shot anyway.'' He smiled and kissed her forehead. ''But I do love you. You're a good girl. You'll find you a nice Jewish boy, of course, I'm biased.'' He said, making her laugh.

''Uncle Munch, I'm only half Jewish on my mother's side. None of the Jewish boys I went to school with were attractive at all. Although, I do like Adam Sandler.'' She said, chuckling.

Munch laughed, too. ''Yeah, another married guy.'' He said, making them both crack up, confusing Ace and Fitz as they were both arriving at the precinct.

Ace said, ''So, Callie, did you think about what I said?'' He hoped she had, it was only going to be better for her in the long run, if she got over Elliot and started to try and find someone new. However, if she decided to get back together with him, that wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

Callie smirked at him, she knew why he was asking. ''Yes, Ackerely, I have. I am going to make sure that Elliot knows I am done pandering for his attention. It's time for someone new.'' She said, taking a little satisfaction at his crestfallen face.

Fitz looked a little upset about something, and Callie said so. He nodded, tears starting to fill his eyes. ''Daphne and I have broken off our engagement.'' He said, dropping his head into his hands.

Callie hurried forward, knowing how broken up he was going to be. He had really loved Daphne. They had been together for three years. ''Oh, Fitz, I'm so sorry.'' She said, holding him close as he cried on her shoulder. It was lucky no one was really there yet. He was pretty broken up. It was terrible.

Ace said, ''I'm sorry, man, do you want to talk about why?'' He knew this was going to be very hard on Fitz, he and Daphne had been inseperable since they got together. She had grown up with them, too, and she and Fitz had been friends for years before they had gotten together. No one had been surprised at the hookup, and they had all thought they'd be together forever. This was going to be shocking to all of their friends.

Fitz leaned his head up from Callie's shoulder but left himself in her arms, it felt nice to be comforted. ''Yeah, I do. She was chearting on me. With Damascus, the long lost brother that I never knew I had. He turned up a few months ago I guess, and I wasn't home because I was working. Jason was out with some friends. Daphne was the only one there. She let him in, and they got to talking. He never came back to introduce himself to me, because that night they got drunk and slept together. He was afraid that I wouldn't want anything to do with him once I found out.''

Ace was shocked. Fitz's parents had been together a long time before they had passed away. He could hardly believe that one of them had cheated. ''Are you serious, Dalton? I just, I can't believe this.'' He ran his hand through his hair. He only called Fitz by his given name when he was really upset.

Fitz nodded. ''Yeah, Dad was the one who made that faux paux. She was a waitress that he met at a diner when he was on lunch one day from work. He and Ma had been fighting, and he thought he would give them something to really fight about and had himself a waitress.'' He said this all matter of factly, but both Callie and Fitz knew he was taking it hard.

Before any of them could say anything else, Tom Hanson and Doug Penhall showed up in the office. It was a Sunday, they wouldn't be needed at the school that day. None of the them but Munch even really knew who they were, since their cover was supposed to still be intact. Munch, knowing this, said, ''Can I help you, boys?''

Doug spoke first. ''Yes, sir, we're just looking for Captain Stabler, someone told us this was his precinct.'' They had some news that they wanted to give Elliot and Olivia as soon as possible. It was really important.

Munch said, ''He's not here right now, but he should be here later on this morning, why don't I set you up with something to drink and a room to wait in?'' He knew that that wasn't going to help them right that minute, but it was all he could give them.

Doug and Tom agreed to this and headed over to get the coffee with Munch. Then they were safely ensconced in the interview room next to Elliot's office. Doug was tired, and drank his coffee. Tom was reflective, and just wanted to talk to Elliot. It was something he wanted to get off his chest.