A/N: To the reader who messaged me about how poorly I make sense anytime I type as Chloe, I want to remember, Chloe is just over 1 and a half years old, she's not 2 yet. Children that young are still learning to pronounce their words, they are still learning, how to string words together. If you've ever had the chance to listen to a child that young try and talk, most of the time what they say is garbled but they string occasional words together. Sometimes they make complete sense. It's exactly why I have Chloe refer to Elliot as 'Ellot' as she doesn't quite have that 'i' sound in his name down yet, as it's a tricky name to say when you're that little. But who knows, maybe down the line that won't be an issue, maybe she'll refer to him as something else ( ;) ). Chloe's garbled speech is why I usually always have an adult repeat what she is saying (and usually Olivia), to assist both my readers, and the characters around the girl in the story. However, I appreciate your feedback and will attempt to make sure that in the future this always makes sense.

To everybody else, Thank you for all your reviews on my last chapter, I'm glad that you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoy this next chapter too :)

50. Christmas Pt 1

It had been quite the whirlwind couple of days but everything had been absolutely worth it. Christmas had to be one of Olivia's favourite holidays and she was really excited to spend this one with the people who meant the most to her. Olivia had been on the fence at first about staying over at Elliot's for Christmas, especially as her father was in town and she'd never spent a night in Elliot's apartment before. But she'd discussed the whole idea with Alex who had made a really good point, Elliot was giving up his family Christmas for her, even though she never and would never ask him to. So, the least she could do was spend a night or two over Christmas, at his. So, Don was spending a couple of nights in a presidential suite downstairs from Elliot's penthouse. Olivia knew her father likely didn't approve of this as he was very traditional when it came to people sharing a bed. But he hadn't objected to them going away, and surely, he didn't think they'd sleep separately then so what could he object to staying at Elliot's now. Elliot had a travel cot brought in and set up in his study for Chloe, which Olivia really appreciated. She did however make him agree to one condition, he had to help her wrap Santa's presents for Chloe.

Elliot had invited everyone over for dinner though, so it wouldn't be like Olivia was completely abandoning her dad or anything. Elliot's brother Edward, his wife Maria and son Arthur were also going to be joining them for Christmas Day. It was going to be weird for Elliot to not to see his whole family at Christmas this year, but he was going to spend the holiday with Olivia and Chloe who were more important to him now.

Elliot found Olivia in the kitchen with Elizabeth and Richard, who were standing on their special steps, to see over the bench.
"What's going on in here?" Elliot asked, intrigued by what looked like to be a big baking session.
"Livvy is teaching us how to make gingerbread" Elizabeth explained, smiling up at her father.
"It was a family tradition of mine, you can ask my dad when he comes up later. So, whilst Chloe is down for her nap, I thought we'd make some" Olivia explained, to bring Elliot up to speed about what they were doing.
"But you can't help daddy, cause you don't have an apron" Richard remarked, clearly having been told the same rule previously about wearing an apron when cooking.
"Only people with an apron on can bake and we don't have any more" Elizabeth followed up to which Olivia just smiled, he knew this was her doing but he appreciated them trying to stay clean.
"That's alright, I have some other things I need to get done anyway. But can you come and get me when it's time to try one?" Elliot asked.
"You better not be working? It's Christmas and you promised us you would not work over Christmas" Olivia asked, she and Elliot had agreed that they would not do any work over the holidays, they would simply focus on the holidays and the family.
"I'm not working, I just...have a few things I need to get done for tomorrow" Elliot remarked before leaving everyone to their baking. He meant what he had promised, he wasn't going to be working but he did still have a few presents to wrap. Now was the best opportunity he had to wrap Olivia's and Chloe's presents as he wouldn't be interrupted because they were busy.

Meanwhile back in the kitchen, Olivia and the twins were finishing off cutting out all the gingerbread men with special Christmas cookie cutters Olivia had brought with her. They were going to need to go into the oven for about half an hour and then have some time to cool before the kids can decorate them. Olivia would make sure to get one done first as an example, to give them ideas.
"Livvy" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes honey?" Olivia replied as she organised the cookies on the baking tray.
"Will you do this with us every year?" Lizzie asked and Olivia didn't know initially how to respond as no one knew what was around the corner. Whilst Olivia knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Elliot and the twins, she didn't know exactly how the future was going to plan out.
"Well, it's one of my Christmas traditions so yeah, every Christmas that we're all together we can make these if you want to" Olivia explained.
"Did you make these at Christmas with Chloe last year?" Richard asked as he placed the last one he'd cut out on the baking tray.
"Well Chloe was very little last year and didn't really know what Christmas was but I did make some for the Christmas party my dad had. I will try and do it every year with Chloe when she's a bit bigger though" Olivia explained, knowing that this was definitely something she would look forward to being able to share with Chloe when she was older.

"I think you should teach daddy to cook too, because he can't cook at all" Elizabeth remarked a couple of minutes later.
"Really?" Olivia asked, intrigued to know more from Elliot's daughter's perspective.
"Yeah, it's why we have Gusto, as daddy can't cook and we need to eat" Elizabeth explained in a very matter-of-fact kind of way.
"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. When your dad and I went away for our weekend, he helped me cook dinner several times. So, I think if he was to have the right teacher, he could become quite the good cook" Olivia tried to encourage the children's belief in their father. She had seen first-hand how Elliot really the interest did have to want to learn to cook, it was just the case of making sure to find the time. As they were all so busy the majority of the time, having a personal chef was just so much easier for them.

The gingerbread men and women were a huge success, everybody was able to have one to try and they even saved a few for the other guests that were coming for dinner tonight. Both twins were very proud of themselves over the efforts they'd made, Elliot and Olivia were too. They were especially proud of the perseverance that the twins had when they didn't believe they could decorate these cookies any good. Chloe had successfully managed to get the icing all over herself though and had to be completely changed into another outfit before anyone came for dinner. But on the plus side, this gave Olivia the opportunity to change into another outfit as well. She had brought several outfits over with her this morning and knew by the end of these next couple of days they will all likely have been worn. Elliot found Olivia after Don, Alex and Alex's partner Micah had just arrived, in the bathroom of the master bedroom, touching up her makeup.

"Wow" Elliot remarked as he just took Olivia's whole outfit in. He honestly hadn't thought she needed to change for dinner, as the outfit she had already been in was perfectly fine but Olivia had obviously thought otherwise.
"You look beautiful! Though you didn't need to change for dinner" Elliot remarked, as he wrapped his arms around Olvia's waist from behind and placed a kiss behind her ear, in a tender spot that only he knew about.
"I wasn't going to wear what I had been in all day, for dinner with people over. So, I thought this was the appropriate outfit for the occasion" Olivia replied as she looked at him in the reflection of the mirror.
"Well, you definitely pull it off. I think red is really your colour" Elliot remarked
"Really? I thought you liked it when I wore black more?" Olivia asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. She clearly remembered his reaction to seeing her in the black satin nightie on the last night of their weekend away. Elliot had hardly been able to control himself around her then and thankfully, he didn't have to.
"Well, I do, but you couldn't wear that outfit downstairs" Elliot remarked. He definitely did love her in that little black nightie though.
"No, definitely not. But I'm glad you like this one, I thought it was appropriately festive" Olivia remarked as she put her make up bag back to the side of the sink and turned to face him properly.
"That it is. Now I only came up to tell you that your dad, Alex and Micah are here. Gusto says that dinner should be about another half an hour too" Elliot explained.
"Perfect, thank you"
"Now, m'lady, can I escort you downstairs?" Elliot asked as he held out his arm for her to take, causing Olivia to laugh at his silliness right now but accepting all the same. Elliot really did strive to do anythign that the could to make her laugh. He just loved hearing her laugh.

When they made it downstairs, Olivia saw Chloe was already seated on Micah's lap and babbling away about something. Micah had only come into town a couple of days ago but Chloe was excited every time she saw him since. She had clearly been missing seeing him when she saw Alex, though Olivia was sure that no one had missed Micah more than Alex. It was exactly like Olivia knew she would feel if she didn't see Elliot for a long period of time.
"Check you out! Almost make a girl feel underdressed" Alex teased as Olivia walked over to give her a hug whilst Elliot moved to greet Don.
"Thanks, I thought that given the occasions, I would wear something a little festive tonight. I have another dress upstairs for tomorrow" Olivia explained.
"Ah yes, because you're not going home tonight, you're staying right here with everyone? First night staying over with the kids is it?" Alex asked, intrigued if she could get more information out about that decision.
"Yeah but I made Elliot promise that if we stayed over tonight then he'd help me wrap presents for Chloe" Olivia explained, there was still so much she had left to wrap
"Seems like a fair deal to me" Alex agreed, imagining the endless amount of presents that Olivia still had to wrap, ready for Chloe to find tomorrow morning from Santa.

"So, who's coming tomorrow?" Alex asked, wanting to hear more about who she could be expecting to meet tomorrow.
"Uhh, everyone ere and then Edward, Elliot's twin brother and when I say twin, I mean they are basically identical. But yeah, Edward, his wife Maria and their son Arthur" Olivia explained as Alex raised an eyebrow, she had no idea that Elliot was a twin but it would explain why he had twins. Alex knew the genetic twin gene was passed down on the father's side and not the mother.
"Wow, so it's not just Elliot and the twins who are blowing off their family Christmas?" Alex was intrigued by this news and had to hear more to that story.
"Nope, when I met Edward at dinner the first time about a week ago now, they asked Elliot if they could come for Christmas and he agreed, which I don't mind as they're lovely people. But apparently his brother can't stand the way Bernie has been treating me either"
"Look at you, taking over that family by storm"
"It would definitely appear that way. I don't like that they won't see family at Christmas though. I'm going to at least try get Elliot to call his mother tomorrow as I won't have him not talk with her at all tomorrow, it's Christmas after all" Olivia explained. She felt very strongly about spending the holidays with those that you loved and she appreciated the gesture Elliot was making for her and she appreciated the dedication to her he was showing through this action. But she wouldn't stand for Elliot completely ignoring his mother on Christmas Day and she would try convince him to at least all her on the day.
"Seems wise and I know that if you ask him, then there's no way he'll refuse" Alex remarked, Elliot was absolutely whipped for Olivia and she couldn't see anything that he wouldn't do for Olivia.
"I'm not giving him anything of any sort, until he does" Olivia remarked before excusing herself to organise drinks for everyone and make sure they had everything they needed.

Dinner was absolutely delicious, Gusto had outdone himself once more and everyone seemed to enjoy both the conversation and the company. Everyone made comments to the children especially on how good their gingerbread people were which had both Richard and Elizabeth grinning from ear to ear. Everyone shared the excitement for tomorrow, especially the children. Despite the fact that Chloe wasn't entirely sure who this 'Santa' was that was coming tonight, Arthur did and he was excited like the twins, which in turn caused Chloe to be excited just from the excitement of the other children. Olivia found the excitement simply adorable and loved the way that even though they hadn't known each other that long really, Chloe, Elizabeth and Richard were already acting like siblings.

After dinner, it was time for the Christmas Eve boxes, this was a tradition that all Stabler children took part in growing up and Olivia wasn't really sure how it would go down with Chloe, as she didn't have one and she'd never had to watch someone else open something she didn't have before. Olivia hadn't known in advance that they did this, so she'd not had time to prepare anything in case.
"Now, we know that maybe Choe wouldn't have a special Christmas Eve box, so Daddy got her a special one too so she doesn't miss out" Elizabeth stated proudly as she walked over to where Chloe was sitting in the living room, with the box in hand.
"Well that was very sweet of him. But I think she can open it after she's had a bath and before bed. C'mon Chloe, it's bath time" Olivia smiled as she moved to try and pick up the little girl to take her upstairs for the bath.
"No bath…box mommy" Chloe refused.
"Honey, you can open the box after a bath. Remember what we talk about, if you aren't a good girl then Santa won't come tonight and you won't have any presents tomorrow?" Olivia tried to bargain with the little girl whilst the rest of the group watched on. Olivia knew that Chloe wasn't normally like this but she was acting out because they were in a different place and she had an audience. They never usually had any issues with having a bath each night, usually Chloe was an absolute delight to get into the bath. But then again it was Christmas Eve and Elizabeth had just brought in a new distraction for the little girl. In hindsight, he kind of wished that they had waited for a little bit. But he couldn't fault that the little girl was just trying to help.

"Mommy no" Chloe started to cry, today had been a big day and the little girl was very obviously tired from all the excitement and time with her favourite people. She was only young and hadn't properly had a nap today.
"Come on now sweet girl, you've had a great day and we don't want to ruin it now with this performance. Let's go have a bath and get your pyjamas on and then you can come down and open this cool new box" Olivia tried to bargain with the little girl. She wasn't going to give in but she didn't want to have to fight.
"Hey Chloe, how about I come too and you can show me your new bath toy that I know you brought with you? How about we go have a bath and then just like mommy says, we can open this cool new box when we get back" Elliot stepped in, trying to help Olivia out with a defiant Chloe. He knew that if he offered to come too and hinted at a new toy that he knew she had, then she may be inclined to go and have the bath. Thankfully his attempt had worked and once she knew that Elliot would come too, Chloe was more eager to go for the bath now, to show Elliot her new toy. Olivia just smiled and mentally thanked him for stepping in and he winked in return. Elliot asked the twins to wait for their boxes until he was back with Olivia and Chloe, to which they unwillingly agreed.

Whilst Olivia, Elliot and Chloe were upstairs giving Chloe a bath and getting her changed, Alex was sitting on the couch next to Don and Micah was entertaining the twins. Micah had a real natural ability with children and Alex had to admit, she really enjoyed watching him with children. She knew that when the time was right, he would make a great dad.
"Elliot really cares about Olivia and Chloe?" Don asked, drawing Alex out of her thoughts about Micah and parenthood.
"He does, he has really stepped up for Olivia with everything that has been going on" Alex agreed.
"Chloe adores him too, it's clear from the way that she willingly went for a bath when he offered to help out" Don remarked and Alex had to agree again.
"Chloe and Elliot have a really special relationship. I think in some ways, he's really kind of stepped in a father role for that little girl considering she doesn't have one. Elliot is really the partner that Olivia needed after everything she went through with Brian and I'm glad they found each other" Alex replied once more.
"I can't believe that man even tried for custody like he did, how'd he even find out about her?" Don asked and Alex didn't know how to properly answer that question as she didn't have any solid evidence.
"I have my theories but I don't know for sure. The main thing is, he didn't get approved for custody and he can't come anywhere near them. Not that I honestly think Elliot would let them if he had the chance anyway" Alex explained, and Don just nodded. He had been learning a lot about Elliot in the time that he'd been in New York. Don could really tell how much that man meant to Olivia and Chloe, he seemed to care a great deal for them and Olivia had obviously developed a close bond with his children too.

"Olivia's pretty great with the twins?" Don asked, changing the line of his questions a little.
"Yeah she is. I don't know the background to that though, other than Elizabeth is in her class and there is no mother in the picture" Alex explained, which was the truth as Olivia had never told her. Alex didn't have the interest to go digging in Elliot's past though, she only cared that her best friend was happy and that Elliot treated her right.
"They make a great little family unit" Don replied before he got up to get another drink before everyone was back downstairs.

Once Olivia, Chloe and Elliot had rejoined the group, it was time for the Christmas Eve box. Whilst the twins were going to be up for a little while longer than Chloe, they wanted to open their boxes just as eagerly as Chloe did. However, they checked that the remaining gingerbread men, a glass of milk and some carrots were exactly where they should be, on the coffee table at the side of the living room, ready for Santa beforehand. Chloe was snuggled on Olivia's lap whilst Don held the big box for the little girl to open, in the spot next to them. Elliot scanned the room to watch all the children open their boxes and make sure they all got some of his attention.
In Elizabeth and Richard's boxes there was; new Christmas pyjamas, chocolates, a book and then some Christmas themed Lego as a toy to build for the evening. Now given the age difference, inside Chloe's box was a few different items to the older kids. There was still a set of new Christmas pyjamas, chocolates and a more age appropriate Christmas book. But instead of the Lego building task the older kids got, Chloe got a soft toy reindeer instead. Chloe had squealed in delight over all these gifts and Olivia found it really sweet with the way that Elliot wanted to make sure she was included with the festivities. As Chloe had already brushed her teeth when she was upstairs, Olivia wasn't going to allow her to eat the chocolate now, but promised that she would have it tomorrow. Chloe also wouldn't need the extra sugar right before bed.
"Chloe, I'll go get your milk but can you say goodnight to everyone? Then we'll go upstairs and read you a story" Olivia asked.
"Ganpa 'ed" Chloe cooed.
"You want Grandpa to read the story tonight?" Olivia queried and Chloe nodded before picking up the book from her Christmas box along with the new toy and moving over to Don.
"Alright, I'll read the story but you need to say goodnight to everyone like mommy asked and make sure to say thank you to Elliot for the box" Don agreed. Chloe then made her way around the room to say goodnight to everyone, leaving Elliot to last.
"Tank 'ou Ellot" Chloe said with a huge smile.
"You are most welcome little one. Sleep well and I'll see you tomorrow' Elliot said as he hugged the little girl close and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. Olivia re-appeared with the milk and encouraged both Chloe and Don into the study, excusing herself for a moment from everyone else.

Later that night, everyone had gone to their respective hotel rooms and Elliot was sitting across from Olivia on the floor of his bedroom, wrapping presents. Olivia had been yawning her head off for the past little while but she still had a couple of presents left to wrap. They had the stockings ready for the kids and the big presents were wrapped, it was just the last couple of things from Santa for Chloe to go.
"How did you manage to get yours all done? You would have had more than me with the twins, as there is 2 kids" Olivia asked as she muffled another yawn in front of Elliot.
"I must admit, I had help and staff who love wrapping gifts" Elliot remarked.
"Did you wrap any of them?"
"Uh a couple, not from Santa though. Honey, why don't you go to bed, I can finish these up for you" Elliot encouraged, feeling bad that Olivia was so obviously tired and didn't want to get into bed. He could finish the wrapping of the last couple of gifts, he didn't mind.
"No, we started them together, we'll finish them together. Besides, you're helping me so it's not fair if I bail out on this" Olivia replied as she finished off the present she had been wrapping for the last couple of minutes.

"You know, you apparently really made an impression with my father today" Olivia remarked after the couple had sat in silence for a couple of minutes.
"Really?" Elliot asked, he was glad to hear that he'd made a good impression with Olivia's father today but he hadn't been trying.
"Yeah. When we were up here getting Chloe ready for bed and everything, he had a conversation with Alex about you and how he was impressed by you" Olivia explained.
"That's nice to hear"
"I know, I thought the same. But I didn't think he'd have any issues with us and with you. We both know that compared to Brian, you are a million times better" Olivia encouraged whilst she finished the last present and waited for Elliot. She knew he was almost finished too and then all they had to do was place the stockings in the correct rooms and then it was bedtime for them too.
"Baby, I would never do what that man did to you. The only positive of that situation is that we have Chloe now and I am never going to let anything happen to either of you" Elliot replied.
"I know and I love you all the more for it" Olivia remarked as she and Elliot stood up and grabbed the filled stockings from the end of their bed, placing the last present in Chloe's before walking out of the room to deliver these filled stockings to the correct sleeping child. Neither of them could wait to see the reaction of the kids to the presents tomorrow. It was turning into a magical Christmas, their first together but it wouldn't be their last.

A/N: A magical Christmas Eve before surely what will be a magical Christmas, right? I wonder what the special day will have in store for this group. Looks like Don really likes Elliot and this family unit he and Olivia are making but will Don ever actually tell Olivia? Maybe Christmas will lead to that? You'll have to read the next chapter to find out. Next Chapter; Christmas Day
Leave me a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter! 2 chapters left of this story :(
Until Next Time ;)