A/N: It truly is a "noche" to remember, but why?
DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU and its characters. TStabler© owns the narrative, dialogue and plot of this story
"Really? Who are you?" a smug man, sitting at the interrogation table said, glaring at Olivia. "Are you gonna go make me a sandwich? Can you be a dear and get me a glass of water? No ice."
Olivia looked at Elliot, her eyebrow raised, then she looked back down at the perp. "Can you be less of a misogynistic bastard and just tell us where the girl is?"
"Wait, you're a detective?" the man said, scoffing. "My, they'll give anything a badge these days."
Olivia pressed her lips together and looked around at Elliot, trying to control her rising anger. "They'll give anything a gun, too," she spat, looking back at him. "Wanna see it?"
"Listen, little girl, go clean the bathroom or something," he barked at her. His eyes widened when he was picked up out of his chair by his collar.
"Little? Girl?" Olivia twisted the collar in her hands, smirked, and said, "Clean the bathroom?"
The man clawed at her wrist and hand, his eyes wide. "Sorry," he gasped.
"Sorry, Detective Benson," Olivia said, gritting her teeth.
The man scoffed, but Olivia twisted his collar again and lifted him higher out of his chair. "Okay, okay! Sorry, Detective Benson!"
Olivia dropped him, roughly, and put her hands on her hips. "Where is she?"
"Damn," the man said, rubbing his neck and struggling to breathe. "She should be at school. Trinity Prep. What the hell did she do, anyway?"
Olivia raised her eyebrows. "She didn't do anything. She's a victim," she said, holding her hand out to Elliot. Elliot handed her a file, and she threw the contents of it onto the table in front of the man. "See?"
The man fanned out the photos and smirked. "She's very photogenic. You got my bad side though," he said, tapping on the picture.
"Oh," Elliot said. "The video got every side of you humanly possible." He got up, jerked his head, telling Olivia to follow him, and walked out into the pit. A uniformed officer walked into the room to cuff the man and Alex nodded at the detectives as she walked out to have the man arraigned. Elliot looked at Cragen. "We're gonna go get the..."
Cragen interrupted him. "I already sent Munch."
Elliot's eyes widened. "Cap, this is our case! How could you..."
"Your mother is here," Cragen said, interrupting again.
Olivia instantly clutched her cross and followed Elliot out of the pit and into the squadroom. Bernadette rose from the chair next to Elliot's desk and smiled at her son, walking to him and wrapping him in a hug. "Elliot," she said. "You haven't called in so long! Frankie told me that sweet girl you were with was shot, and then Kathy called and told me you're getting married! How could you move on so quickly? I'm missing so much of your life!"
"Mom," Elliot said. "Liv was shot, but she's fine. She's the girl that I'm marrying."
Bernadette tilted her head. "Who is Liv?"
Elliot sighed. "Mom, you know Olivia. You remember Olivia? I call her 'Liv,' like the way some people call you 'Bernie,' it's a nickname."
"Oh," Bernadette said. "I remember her, of course. She was shot?" she asked, looking at Elliot.
"Yes, Mom," Elliot told her. "But, she's absolutely fine, see?" he asked, pulling Olivia forward.
Olivia waved with one hand, still clutching the cross with the other. "Hello, Bernie."
"Hello, honey. Please, I told you last time, call me 'Mom'," Elliot's mother told her. "May I see the ring he gave you?"
Olivia looked at Elliot, nervously, as she held out her left hand. "It's..."
"Absolutely beautiful," Bernadette said, turning her hand over. "Wear it in good health, my dear."
"Oh, uh, thank you, Bernie," Olivia said. "Um, Mom." Her eyes screwed shut. It didn't feel good calling anyone "Mom" so soon after burying her mother.
Bernadette looked at the ring for a moment, then looked up and asked, "You're getting married?"
"Yes," Olivia said, furrowing her brow. "I am."
"Congratulations," Bernadette said, cheerfully. "To who?"
Elliot pulled his mother's hand away from Olivia's and said, "To me, Mom. Olivia and I are getting married."
"But, you're already married!" Bernadette yelled. "I didn't raise you this way, Elliot!"
"Mom, calm down. Remember? Kathy and I got an annulment, we're not married anymore," Elliot said, looking into his mother's eyes. "Olivia and I have been together for seven months, now."
"Kathy! She's here. She's in the hallway, waiting for someone," Bernadette said. Her clarity was returning, but there was no telling how brief a moment it would be. "She has a date."
Elliot shook his head and sighed. "Okay, Mom, come on. Let's go outside and talk to Kathy." He pulled Bernadette out into the hallway and saw Kathy, leaning against the wall, with a very smug look on her face.
"Hello, Elliot," Kathy said. "I hope you don't mind that I brought your mom for a visit. She misses you, and I thought she deserved to meet your new wife."
Bernadette smiled at Kathy. "Oh, I've met Olivia before. She's very sweet."
"Okay, Ma, you're not helping," Kathy muttered.
"Kathy," Elliot said, "Please, don't bring my mother here while I'm working. And, I hope you have fun on your date. It's good that you're getting out there and moving on."
"Don't you wanna know who I'm going out with tonight, Elliot?" she asked, smirking.
Elliot shook his head. "No, as long as they take your mind off of me and Liv, then I'm cool with..."
"Fin," Kathy spat, harshly, interrupting.
"Good," Elliot said, not really hearing her. "I hope you...wait...what? Did you say Fin?"
Fin walked up the hall at that moment, whistling, and saw Kathy. "Hey! What are you doin' here? I told you I would pick you up," he said. "Hey, Stabler. I see you two have met."
"Fin, this is Kathy," Elliot said with narrow-eyes.
Fin chuckled. "I know, man. I have a date with her, I know who she is," he said with a laugh.
Elliot shook his head and spat, "My ex-wife. Kathy."
"Oh, shit," Fin muttered. "I didn't...wow...man, I'm..."
"No," Elliot interrupted. "Ya know what, go. Have a good time. Maybe you'll have better luck with her than I did." Elliot slapped Fin on the shoulder and walked back into the bullpen. "Liv, you're not gonna believe this."
"And the wicked, old witch yelled...okay, just sleep through the best part of the story, girls," Olivia said with a chuckle. She stood up, leaned over and kissed Kathleen on the cheek. Then she walked to Maureen and Lizzie, giving them both kisses. She turned out the light and left their room, closing the door behind her. She met Elliot in the hallway. "They were tired from waiting up for us," she told him. "They fell asleep before the witch could cast her evil spell over the kingdom."
Elliot laughed. "Dickie's out like a light, too. We need to convince them that they don't have to wait up for us. We're gonna have late nights, and sometimes we're not gonna be coming home at all."
"They're still little, El. When they're older they'll be able to sleep without seeing us," Olivia assured him, rubbing a hand down his arm. "They just wanna stay up to say good night."
Elliot kissed her cheek and smiled. "Come with me," he said, pulling her toward the bedroom.
"Oh, I wonder what we're gonna do," Olivia quipped, wagging her eyebrows.
"No," Elliot laughed. "Not yet." He pulled her into the bedroom, and toward an open window. "Come on," he said, jerking his head. He climbed out the window, onto the eave, and held his hand out to Olivia.
She took it, with a raised eyebrow, and said, "Is this the part of the movie where the girl finds out her boyfriend is really the killer and he throws her off the roof?"
"Liv!" Elliot said, chuckling. "Just come out here." He pulled her gently onto the eave and climbed with her up to the roof.
"What are we doing up here? It's the middle of the night, El," Olivia said, following him closely.
Elliot sat, then pulled her down, holding her close. He leaned them both back until they were lying flat on the roof. "It's a clear night, Liv. You can see every star in the sky. It's rare in this city."
"You brought me up here to look at the stars?" Olivia asked, stunned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Elliot said, shaking his head. "My best friend is on a date with my ex-wife, and I don't care. I'm with you, you're wearing my ring, my mother knows who you are, my kids are happy and healthy, my life is perfect."
Olivia snuggled closer to him, resting her head on his chest. "You really came out here to look at the stars, for no reason, then?"
"There's a reason, Liv." He ran his hands through her hair and sighed. "We don't get a lot time to ourselves. We don't get a lot of time for romance, and we've both been through a lot, lately. I wanted to bring you up here, look at the stars, and, uh, I have to tell you something."
"Go ahead, El," Olivia said, tracing light circles on his chest with her finger.
"When I was stationed, it didn't matter where, Liv, I would go outside, even when it was raining, and look up at the stars. I would think of you, and I would wish on those stars that you would be safe and happy, wherever you were. The night Kathy kicked me out, I walked up to the roof of the precinct, and I looked up and, Liv, I wished for you. Not that you'd be safe, not that you'd be happy, but that you'd come back to me, somehow. The next morning, there you were, in Cragen's office. This time, I want to make a wish together," he told her.
Tears in her eyes, she craned her neck to look at him. "What do you want to wish for?"
"More nights like this," Elliot said, pulling her further on top of him. He looked into her eyes, smiled and added, "And maybe, soon, more kids."
They were staring so intently into each others eyes, letting the weight of his words sink in, they didn't see the shooting star pass over them. Since they were on the roof, caught in a romantic moment, they didn't hear Elliot's cell phone ringing in the bedroom, either. Cragen would just have to leave a very frantic voicemail.
A/N: What does Cragen say? And did Elliot mean it when he wished for more kids, with Olivia, so soon?