A/N Ah, another contemporary songfic. Kids are here! Yay! R/R
DISCALIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. Song is "For Good" from the musical Wicked. Story, narrative and dialogue belong to TStabler©!
"Lizzie, if you don't hold still you're going to be 'Glinda the Good but Full of Holes'," Olivia said, trying to sew the hem on the poufy pink dress Elliot's youngest daughter was wearing.
"Sorry, Liv," Lizzie said. "I'm just trying to remember the words and what we're supposed to do."
Olivia chuckled, pulling the needle through the pink chiffon. "Honey, it's your school variety show, not Broadway, I'm sure you're going to be the most fabulous ones out there!"
Dickie came in, dressed like a flying monkey, and everyone in the room laughed. "Oh, thanks, nice. I do something nice to help out my sisters and you laugh at me," he said folding his arms.
"Dickie, no one is laughing at you. We're laughing at your tail," Olivia said trying desperately not to chuckle.
"Yeah, and your wings. And your whiskers." Kathleen couldn't help it, she burst out in hysterics, causing everyone else to join in.
"Hey, at least I'm not in a fluffy dress," he yelled pointing at Lizzie. "Or green!" He stuck his tongue out at Kathleen.
Kathleen glared, pointing a green finger at him. "Bite me, Dick."
"Hey," Olivia yelled, standing up. "Now, I thought we agreed, today at least, you were not to argue. You are going to go out there and pretend you like each other." She turned to Dickie. "That includes you, monkey-boy!"
The kids all nodded and apologized, and in the hustle they didn't see Elliot watching them from the back-door.
"Okay, Lizzie's ripped hem is fixed, Kathleen is as wicked as they come, and you, young Stabler, are one fine looking monkey. Now, if I had any idea where your father was, I'd be a happy camper." She gave them all kisses on their cheeks. "I'm going out there, I've saved him a seat if he gets here. Break a leg! I love you, guys." She turned and walked out of the front stage door.
"Do you think dad is ever going to realize how great she is? How we couldn't survive if they broke up?" Lizzie said, waving her wand around. "It'd be kinda cool having Liv as a mom. Not that she isn't one to us anyway, but like, for real."
Kathleen stuck her pointed hat on her head and shrugged. "It took Daddy seventeen years to realize Kathy was a raging bitch, so who knows how long it's going to take to see that he should be with Olivia forever. The man is a detective. He can find an invisible fingerprint on a pin, but he can't even ask Olivia to...you know."
"I think he's going to, soon, he just doesn't know how to go about doing it, ya know? It's Olivia. His 'Liv', his partner. Like, he's scared if he asks she might shoot him or something." Dickie said, swinging his tail and scratching his whiskers. His sisters just looked at him like he had said the most profound thing in the world. "What?" he asked. The girls smirked and shook their heads, and got ready to go on.
Olivia had been looking from her watch, to the stage to the back of the auditorium, but gave up do to a crick in her neck. The host walked onto the stage, taking the mic, and announced, "Our next act is really a family affair. Performing a scene from the musical Wicked, please welcome, Kathleen, Elizabeth and Richard Stabler."
As the audience clapped, and Olivia whooped and hollered, Elliot came into the row and sat beside her. "Talk about impeccable timing," she said sending a sideways glance at him.
"Sorry," he muttered. He looked up at his children on the stage and beamed with fatherly pride as the music began.
Dickie, flapping his monkey wings and chirping, flew around Kathleen, who was crumpled on the floor. Lizzie stepped forward to Kathleen, who appeared to have fallen and held out her hand, helping her up, as she sang, "I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn. And we are led to those who help us most to grow, if we let them, and we help them in return. Now, I don't know if I believe that's true. But, I know I'm who I am today because I knew you."
Olivia had been looking at Elliot out of the corners of her eyes every so often. Those lyrics hit home for her, because they were exactly how she felt about him.
"Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun, like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood, who can say if I've been changed for the better? Because I knew you," Lizzie sang holding her sister's hand, "I have been changed for good."
Kathleen took two steps forward as Lizzie moved backward, in a choreographed dance. She sang back to her sister, "It well may be, we may never meet again in this lifetime. So, let me say before we part so much of me is made of what I've learned from you. You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart. And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend."
Elliot was looking at Olivia with love and admiration, and listening to the words his children were singing, it made his heart sing, too. That was just how he felt about her.
"Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind off the sea, like a seed dropped by a skybird in a distant wood, who can say if I've been changed for the better? But, because I knew you," Kathleen pulled away from Lizzie and took a step back. "I have been changed for good." She faced the audience and looked sorrowful. "And just to clear the air, I ask forgiveness for the things I've done you blame me for."
Olivia looked at Elliot, and caught him looking at her. They knew, with just their eyes, that whatever had been said or done, ever, that had hurt each other had been forgiven in that moment. Elliot leaned in and kissed her, smiling against her lips.
Lizzie walked over to Kathleen and put her hand on her sister's shoulder as she sang, "But then I guess we know there's blame to share," Kathleen turned and joined her. "and none of it seems to matter anymore," the girls harmonized beautifully, Kathleen hitting an impressive note, and everyone cheered. A tear rolled down Olivia's cheek. Elliot grabbed her hand and squeezed. These were their kids, no matter what anyone said.
The girls repeated their verses in a very challenging harmony, singing two different parts at different times, and coming together at the end. "But who can say if I've been changed for the better?" They grasped hands. "I do believe I have been changed for the better." Kathleen stepped closer to Lizzie. "Because I knew you," she sang. Lizzie took a step closer to Kathleen. "Because I knew you," she replied. They both harmonized and sang the end, holding hands, "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good." Once they finished holding their last note, they hugged, and the room erupted in thunderous applause. They signaled for Dickie, who joined them in the middle of the stage, and the three of them held hands and took a bow. They saw Elliot and Olivia in the front row, clapping, crying and snuggling, and they grinned and waved.
"Do you guys see that?" Dickie asked.
Kathleen nodded, "Dad made it! Maybe we can tell him that we're okay with it if he asks her!"
"Quick, Kathleen, gimme your microphone," Dickie said. He ripped the mic from his sister and cleared his throat. "Uh, hi. I was the flying monkey, I know I didn't sing, or... do much of anything, really, why was I even up here?" he turned, asking Lizzie. She responded with a kick to his shin and the room erupted in laughter. "Uh, well, ow, but um, what I would like to say is, that song was special to us because we have two people in our lives, one in particular, who we just wouldn't be the same without. We have been changed for good, by our parents."
Dickie passed the mic to Lizzie who looked confused. Why would Kathy have been thanked? Dickie eyed Olivia and Elliot and whacked Lizzie with his tail. Catching on, with a smirk, she said, "A guy named Elliot has made sure our lives didn't become difficult after, uh, something rather unfortunate happened, and we thank him for that. He's the best father ever. But, a girl named Olivia has really changed us, for the better and for good." She handed the mic to Kathleen.
"We wouldn't be who we are if it wasn't for her, and she's probably the coolest person in the universe. She makes our lives a little better and brighter each and every day, so, what we're saying is..." Kathleen held the mic in the middle of her siblings and they all said, "We love you Mom and Dad."
Olivia gasped. Did they really just say that? Everyone in the room clapped and the Stabler kids ran off the stage. "El, they just..." she sniffled and wiped her eyes.
"Yeah, they did. Ya know, um, I was here. Before," he said. "When you were helping them backstage. I just didn't want to interrupt, and I heard them talking."
Olivia was only half-listening, she was still in shock. "El, your kids called me..."
"I know they did, Liv," he said with a chuckle. "They're afraid we're gonna break up."
"So, they called me 'mom' to keep me around? Why are they afraid we're gonna break up? Are we gonna break up?" She suddenly looked sick, scared and she moved in a jerky fashion.
"I hope to God we don't. Will you let me finish, woman?" He laughed again, and looked at her. She nodded, quietly. "Liv, they all said, and I agree, that we couldn't survive without you around. They, uh, seem to think we should be moving a little faster, so, I have to ask you something."
Olivia gasped and started to feel the pounding of her heart in her throat. Elliot continued. "I don't even know why you still have it, because you're never there, but I want you to move out of your apartment, Liv. Move in with me and the kids?"
Three excited squeals came from their left. "Please, Liv?" Lizzie asked.
"Liv?" she asked. "I was 'Mom' two minutes ago!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "Oh, El, I...well, how can I say 'no' to all these cute faces? Especially the one with the whiskers."
Dickie laughed. "See, I knew they would do some good." He slid into the row behind Elliot and Olivia, moving over two seats to let his sisters in.
"I wasn't talking about you, Dickie. Daddy needs to shave," Olivia said, running a hand down his cheek. "You scared me, El. For a minute there I thought you were gonna propose."
"Would you have said yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Olivia smiled brightly. Her eyes twinkled. She nodded. "I am gonna propose to you, baby. Just, not at the kids' talent show. You won't know when, or how, and you're gonna cry like hell. But, I'm gonna do it." He squeezed her hand, looked into her eyes, and they completely ignored the act on the stage as he said, "I love you, Liv."
"I love you too, El," she said with a kiss.
Elliot leaned back in his seat and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "You really have changed us, Liv. You know that, right?"
"For the better?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Yeah, baby." He kissed the top of her head and said, "And for good."
A/N: R.S.V.P?
