A/N: "A mother's advice is at first mere suggestion, but will always end with her voice calling out 'I told you so' unless the daughter listens. This is something one rarely figures out until they, too, are a mother."

DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns the characters. That's pretty much it. Everything else written before you is pure TStabler©

"No, not over there...against the wall," Olivia said pointing at the spot where she wanted the couch to go.

The delivery men rolled their eyes, but they moved it anyway. They'd been in and out of the house several times, and were getting annoyed with the two demanding people ordering them around, but since they were cops, the men resigned themselves to listen.

Elliot walked into the living room, wrapped his arms around Olivia, and he sighed happily. "Looks like a home," he said. He heard her laugh and as she turned her head over her shoulder to see him, he kissed her. They were lost in the moment, oblivious to the men leaving, but when they heard the door open again, they separated. Elliot tilted his head as the men brought in another item.

"Guys," Olivia said, worming out of Elliot's grasp, "We only had the beds and living room set, the table and chairs. You got everything. That's not ours."

One of the delivery men looked at his clipboard, checked the box label, and then looked up at her. "Got your name and address on it, lady," he said with a shrug. "Some assembly required, but it ain't our job, thank the Lord," he laughed. "Sign here, please?" he griped, handing Elliot the clipboard.

Elliot took it, raised an eyebrow, and signed the slip. He handed the board and pen back to the man and watched as the workers left.

Olivia walked over and ripped open the top of the box, and as she picked up the instructions, she gasped. "El," she said, "It's a crib."

"What?" he yelled, ripping the papers out of her hands. He ran a hand through his hair as he read the directions. "I didn't…we didn't…why would we have…"

"I was there," Olivia interrupted. "I know we didn't order it." She looked at the box, examining it from all sides as only a detective would, raised an eyebrow, and plucked a card off of the side. "El," she said, getting his attention. She opened the envelope and read, then she rolled her eyes and let out a disbelieving laugh.

Elliot walked over to her, standing behind her, and asked, "What?"

"It's from your mother," she said. She handed him the envelope and raised an eyebrow. "The card says, 'Get a move on.' I think she's trying to tell us something."

"That she's fucking nuts," Elliot scoffed, turning the card over in his hands. He sighed and looked at Olivia. "She's pushing this, and this time she's gone too fucking far, Liv."

"Calm down," Olivia said, resting a hand on his chest. "Breathe, baby," she told him, watching the red fade from his face as she looked into his eyes. "She's just excited to see you finally happy, and she wants you to have everything she knows that you deserve."

"I get that," he sighed, "But, baby, I wish she would let me do it all when I'm damn good and ready. She's gonna scare you off and I don't…"

"With what I do for a living, you think your mother's gonna scare me?" she cut in, folding her arms.

He looked at her, tilted his head, and said, "She's throwing us into talking about marriage and kids. Two things that have always made you run," he said.

"Until you," she reminded him. "I ran because I wasn't with the right person. Now I am." She saw the look on his face and held up a hand. "I'm not saying let's go get married and start knocking out babies," she said with a laugh.

He laughed and dropped his forehead to hers. "I know you're not," he whispered. "I wanna take my time with you. Woo you."

"Did you just…you just used the word 'woo,' didn't you?" she asked, smirking as she peered into his eyes.

He chuckled. "Yep," he said, kissing her. His arms wrapped tighter around her waist. He sighed and closed his eyes, kissed her again, and said, "I don't wanna rush this, baby. I rushed into one marriage and it fell apart. I don't want to take any chances with you. I'm avoiding anything that might mess this up, or hurt you."

She looked into his eyes, dumbfounded. She had no words that seemed good enough for a response. "Put it in the attic," she said, kissing him, referring to the crib in the box. "We'll need it eventually, right?" she asked, still whispering.

"Yeah," he said, nothing but a soft breath.

Her arms wound around his neck and she tugged him closer, pressing her lips to his again. They were involved in a deep kiss, nothing else existed, not even the four teenagers on the stairs, watching and smirking.

"They look happy," Maureen said, her head tilted to the left and a small grin on her face.

Kathleen hummed. "I think they are happy, Mo," she said. "I'm happy for them. I mean, after what Liv did for me…for us…how can I not think of her as more than just a family friend? She's treated me like a daughter since I met her. All of us, really, and…"

"She's gonna be a good mother," Lizzie interrupted. "Despite what she thinks."

Dickie looked at his twin and asked, "What does that mean?" He folded his arms and asked, "How do you know what she thinks? You don't think she thinks she's gonna be a good mother?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and looked over at her brother. "Liv has mother issues," she said. "You know that, we all know that. No matter how much she wants kids, a part of her is always gonna harbor a fear of passing down a lot of hostility, some unknown illness or disease, and she's afraid she's gonna end up like her mother, whether or not she means to, ya know? Kind of how Katie's sick like Grandma."

Kathleen scoffed. "Thanks," she huffed.

Lizzie defended herself. "I'm just saying…"

"I know what you're saying," Kathleen interrupted, shaking her head. "That's not gonna happen. If it was, she wouldn't be who she is, would she? She would already be violent and she isn't."

Maureen squinted her eyes. "She is," she said. "She just focuses it. She uses the violent tendencies she has to fight the bad guys, because she knows from experience what kind of damage they can do. She gets all of her anger and frustration out at work, and she's left with the kind and loving person beneath it all when she comes home. Like dad does."

"Uh, Dad can be a bit of an ass at home, too," Dickie countered.

Kathleen rolled her eyes and said, "Only with you, because you're his clone. Dickie, you gotta give him a break. You push his buttons, on purpose, and you make him crazy. Or, you used to because Mom wouldn't do a damned thing to stop it. We've got Liv now, who won't put up with it. She's pretty scary, too, and she's gonna keep the both of you in check. I think the evil, green, monster side of Dad is gone for good. At least, it is until the next time one of us screws up."

Dickie smirked. "Or the next time you decide to break into someone's house to take a shower," he snarled.

"Hey!" Elliot finally yelled, folding his arms. "The house is big, but not that big. We can hear you, ya know!"

The four kids looked stunned, looked at each other, and then looked back at Olivia and Elliot, waiting for them to say something. "Sorry," they mumbled together, meeting their father's irritated face and silence.

Olivia grinned at them, then. "Everything you said, well, up until the part when you two started in on each other," she said as she pointed to Kathleen and Dickie, "That was…that was really sweet." She took a step forward and rested her hands on the low end of the banister, looking up at them. "Thanks," she said, hiding the emotions she was feeling.

Lizzie looked down at her and smiled. "We meant it," she said. "Every word. We…we all really do love you, Liv."

Elliot wrapped his arms around her from behind her and kissed her cheek. "So do I," he whispered. "More than you will ever know."

"I think I know," she said, turning around to look at him.

He smiled at her, then looked up at his kids. "Ya know, it's not often that we get a full day off to spend with you guys. Go change, and we'll go someplace nice for dinner."

The kids let their faces light up as they bounded up the stairs. Elliot watched them leave, then turned back to Olivia. "Four teenagers, three of them girls, all trying to get into two bathrooms and then try to find something nice to wear to a fancy restaurant," he mumbled, pecking Olivia's lips with his as he spoke. "That could take a while," he mumbled, taking a few steps, backing Olivia up toward the master bedroom.

She chuckled and asked, against his lips, "How long?"

"Long enough," he whispered, pushing her through the door. He kicked it closed, tossed her on the bed, and flopped on top of her, kissing her deeply as he tugged off her pants.

Olivia moaned, trying to lose herself in the moment and enjoy her romp with her lover, but Lizzie's words were echoing in the back of her mind.

Mother issues….passing down hostility….unknown illness…always be afraid…end up like her mother...

"No," she heard herself say.

Elliot heard her, too, and stopped his movement immediately. "What?" he asked, still and quiet. "What'd I do, baby?"

She blinked, bringing herself back into the moment. She looked at him and said, "Nothing, El, it wasn't…I just…" she felt the tear rolling down her cheek before she could stop it. "I love you," she whispered.

Elliot crawled back up her body and looked down, into her eyes, smiling softly. He thumbed away the tear and said, "I love you, too, baby. What's with the water works?"

She took a breath and blinked. She knew the only reason her mother was that person was because of what happened to her. There was not a chance at all of her becoming anything like her as long as she had the love and life she had with Elliot. "I want…you," she said, the only phrase that made sense to her at the moment. "I want you, and whatever you want, whenever you want it, I'm with you. So, uh, woo me, Stabler," she said with a sniffle and a chuckle.

He smiled and laughed, dropping his head to kiss her. He linked their hands, deepened the kiss, and very slowly began to work his way inside of her, listening to the quiet moans and soft grunts that seemed like music.

The wooing would start at dinner.

And would be interrupted by dessert.

A/N: Another issue with his mother? Or hers? Or does someone suddenly have a father issue? Review here or on Twitter: TMG212.