52. New Year, New Love, New Happiness

Elliot Stabler was never a man to bring in the new year quietly, especially not since he had become one of the most successful businessmen in not just New York but the world. He was completely head over heels in love with an incredibly beautiful woman, he had amazing children and his business was completely on the rise still. This year was one that he'd never forget, even with its challenges, but he was excited to see what the new year would hold for them all. He ahd big plans for what he wanted from this new year and he had every intention to see them through. Of course, these plans all started with the annual Paradise Suites New Year celebration. Elliot threw this party every year for a number of the elite business partners and associates, as a way of thanking them for their commitment to his business over the past year and hoping that would continue into the new year that was coming. The party usually ended with enough time for Elliot's close family and friends to head up to the roof and watch the fireworks. It was a fantastic view over the city and a real highlight every year. Elliot felt incredibly lucky to have Olivia on his arm tonight, he knew she would look amazing and likely be the envy of the room. He was the lucky man who not only got to kiss her to welcome in the new year but he'd have her in his bed at the end of the night too.

Elliot had been absolutely swamped with organising for the event tonight that he'd not had as much spare time as he would have liked to spend with Olivia and the kids since Christmas. But he knew that this would all be over soon, he would have a little bit of down time and he'd already organised to take 2 weeks off after this to spend with them. He would be completely on vacation and he was going to enjoy every moment with those that meant the most to him. The twins had spent a night at Olivia's during the week, as she had offered to have them over and that was a very exciting time for them. Sadly, Elliot had been way too busy to even make it over for the night with them. Elliot knew they were in the perfect hands with Olivia and they had come back to him the following day on an absolute sugar high and full of stories to tell about the night they stayed at Olivia's. Whilst they may not have missed him, Olivia did. Olivia checked in with Elliot almost every day and she'd stayed over a night or two at his apartment between Christmas and now. But Elliot still felt guilty about not spending time with her properly. He didn't want her to think he didn't want her anymore or that he was avoiding her as that wasn't the case. He was simply too busy with everything that he had to get done for the party, as he'd lost time he'd usually spend organising it, with the case with Dani right before Christmas. Elliot never blamed Olivia for that though, that case was way more important.

Olivia still made sure to show Elliot that she was there if he needed her, she also took it as a personal responsibility to see that he was eating and getting enough sleep. These little things made Elliot so grateful that Olivia was his as that was never the type of thing that Kathy would do whenever Elliot got snowed under with work. Instead, Kathy would usually grill him about how he had poor management skills and that he shouldn't neglect his wife and children like this. But that just continued to prove how much of a perfect woman that he'd found in Olivia.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Elizabeth called as she came running over to him in the ballroom, followed by Olivia and Richard.
"Hey sweetheart, what are you all doing here?" Elliot hugged the little girl.
"Livvy is taking us ice-skating by the park. Can you come too?!" Elizabeth asked and Elliot frowned as he wanted to go but knew he wouldn't be able to.
"Come with us Daddy!" Richard echoed. Olivia knew that Elliot would be too busy to go and that was why she had planned to take them all on her own.
"Aww you guys I wish I could. You know there is nothing more I would love to do than come with you today but I can't. I have to get this place ready for the party" Elliot explained as he bent down to their height.
"How come you're always working now?" Richard asked which made Elliot feel even more guilty, his kids had noticed how busy he was and clearly, they weren't liking it. Thankfully it wouldn't be for much longer and they had to know that.
"I know all my time lately has been working and I'm sorry that I've been so busy. But I promise you, after this part is over, just like the party I throw every year, I will make it up to you. I've already told work that I'm taking 2 weeks off after this party and I promise I will spend all my time with you then. But I want you to have a great time ice skating with Olivia today and I want to hear all about it later" Elliot said as he stood up again, hugging the twins before turning to Olivia.
"I will make it up to you too" Elliot promised as he pulled Olivia closer to him for a quick kiss, like he tried to do every time he saw her. Not that he would ever admit it publicly, but kissing her had to be one of his favourite things to do and he'd not done it nearly enough lately.
"I know you will. Now we're going to eat out for lunch so they are going to bring your lunch to you here. Make sure you eat it and remember I love you" Olivia explained before kissing him quickly once more and turning to follow the children out of the ballroom, leaving Elliot to his work.
"I love you too" Elliot called back, that woman was everything to him and even when she wasn't around, she was still making sure that he took good care of himself. If that wasn't wife material already, he didn't know what was.

Elliot watched the trio leave the ballroom once more before turning back to help arrange the decorations for tonight. He hated that Olivia and his children were off to have fun and he couldn't join. He hated that they only had a certain number of days before school was back and he'd missed most of their time off. But he was not going to waste anymore time away from them in their free time, after tonight.

As Elliot wasn't around, Olivia decided against taking the car to central park to go ice-skating, instead she opted for them to take the subway again, before there was a brief walk up to the park. Ice skating was something Olivia had loved to do when she was a child but didn't always get much of an opportunity to do and thus she was really looking forward to today. She had hoped that maybe when they went Elliot would get a bit of time to come with them. But when they made the decision to go today, she knew it wasn't possible. She had hardly seen him in this past week, which she really hated as she didn't have any school commitments and she had to go back to work later next week. But Elliot had already told her how big this party was and all the work he had to do. Thankfully, it was a once in a year thing and then Elliot had taken the next couple of weeks off from running the hotel. It was just annoying that she had to go back to work next week. Olivia went back to work next Wednesday for teacher training and then the kids would be back the following day. So really, they only had this weekend to properly enjoy time together before she was busy again. Olivia had spent so much time away from work recently that she didn't have any more time she could take as leave. She also knew that parents in her class were going to start complaining if she took more time off as she had been away a lot as it was. Olivia just had to focus on the now and not think about going back to work just yet.

"Livvy, why don't you and Chloe live with Daddy and us?" Elizabeth asked completely out of the blue as the trio walked up to the ice-skating rink from the subway station. Olivia had to hesitate for a moment as she wasn't sure how to answer that one.
"Well, it's a little bit complicated honey" Olivia replied, trying to get this topic over as quick as possible.
"But we've had lots of sleep overs since you and Chloe stayed with us at Christmas. Do you not like sleeping at our house?" Elizabeth continued to ask, clearly, she was not going to drop this topic any time soon.
"I do, but it's a little tricky. I have a house too, you stayed there with me and Chloe recently. But that house has lots of stuff in it that Chloe and I like to have with us. Besides, there isn't too much space for us to stay a long time at your house right now, as we don't know when nanny is coming back and Chloe doesn't always like sleeping in a cot in the study instead of her bedroom" Olivia tried to explain, trying to think of the best way to answer this question. Moving in wasn't something that she and Elliot had discussed before but there really wasn't that much space left in his apartment with everyone around. Not to mention she didn't like the idea of leaving him without a spare room, incase his mother made another appearance.

"Nanny said at Christmas that she doesn't want to come back when you're there...Why does nanny not want to be there when you're there? Why doesn't she like you?" Richard joined in on the conversation.
"I am not sure honey, sometimes you just have people who don't like you and you don't always know why. You can't be friends with everyone all the time" Olivia explained, this was a hard lesson she had come to know too well.
"Well, I think nanny is silly for not liking you, you make us all really happy when you are here and we like you. I know daddy really likes you too and I know that he likes it most when you sleep over with us. So, you and Chloe should come live with us and not listen to nanny as then you can always sleep over. We can protect you from nanny" Elizabeth concluded the discussion which caused Olivia to laugh. If only life was as simple as it seemed to be with 7-year-old logic.

When the trio reached the ice-skating rink, they all put on their skates and Olivia took turns guiding and holding the twins as they moved around the rink. She was a great ice-skater but it was clear these two had never been, so they weren't very confident on the ice. Whenever Olivia wasn't holding them, they were holding the wall and moving around the rink. The main thing was, they had a great time doing it and asked to come back soon. Olivia managed to take a moment to grab a few photos on the ice with the twins, to send to Elliot. She wanted him to at least see what they were getting up to when he couldn't be here with them. The twins had loved ice-skating so much that when the time came to leave, they didn't want to. Thankfully the promise of a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows from her favourite café on the way home, motivated them more than the ice rink.

Elliot finally had everything ready for tonight, with a couple of hours left before the event started. He wondered if the twins and Olivia were back yet or if they were still out having fun. He'd not seen any of them since before they left to head out to the ice-skating rink in the park. He wasn't sure whether they were back or not yet but if they were yet to return, he was going to find out where they were and go join them. If they were back though, he would simply go join in on whatever they were getting up to next. He hoped that Olivia wasn't going to be too busy getting ready for the event tonight already and she would be joining in to. But on the other hand, there were a couple of hours before the event and he knew how long women took to get ready, especially for something like this. Elliot asked at the front desk if Olivia and the twins had returned and Robbie, one of the receptionists confirmed that they were indeed back and had already gone upstairs once more.

Elliot boarded the elevator and waited as it climbed all the floors to his penthouse. He walked out of the elevator to hear shrieks of laughter and he knew something fun had to be happening. He found the group sitting on the floor with a boardgame of some kind. It must be an appropriate game for Chloe's age as she was actively joining in as well, though it did look like she was teamed up with Olivia.
"Daddy!" Richard called as he spotted Elliot standing watching everyone, running over before Elizabeth and Chloe copied his exact actions. Elliot wondered if anyone else would pick up on the fact that Chloe had called him 'daddy' just now or whether it would fly under the radar. It was clear that Olivia had heard it and just smiled at Elliot without saying anything. Elliot felt touched that Chloe wanted to call him daddy but expected that it was really due to everyone else had said it and she just echoed it in the moment.
"Hello you three, what are you monkeys up to?" Elliot asked as he greeted each of the children.
"We pay game…momma an me, an dick and 'izzie pay. Daddy pay 'oo?" Chloe asked politely.
"Chloe, he is not your daddy, he's my daddy and he's 'Ellot remember?' Elizabeth corrected the little girl and Chloe just shook her head in defiance, because she felt she was right.
"Nooo, is daddy…you asjasd dada" Chloe tried to defend herself and Olivia stood up to step in if required with how this conversation went but Elliot knew he would have to step in as well if required.
"No Chloe, you call him Ellot remember as he's not your daddy? Dickie and me call him daddy as he's my daddy" Elizabeth tried to correct her again but Chloe just refused. Whilst both adults in the room knew that Elizabeth was trying to be helpful, Chloe wasn't going to understand this and would not appreciate being told she was wrong like this as she didn't understand what she was doing wrong. Olivia knew that she had to step in and distract Chloe or there was an incoming meltdown. She'd had a big morning with Lucy when they went out to the park and the little girl was tired as she'd missed her nap today with all the changes in routine.
"Come on Chlo, it's ok. Let's go see if we can ask Gusto nicely for an afternoon snack? I don't know about you but I'm really hungry" Olivia said as she picked up Chloe and carried her into the kitchen.
"Can you get me one too please Chloe?" Elliot spoke up to ask the little girl who nodded. Elliot wanted to encourage her that what she had done was ok and that talking was hard. Elliot knew that Olivia had distracted Chloe and left the room to give him space with his kids for a conversation about what had happened. Elliot ushered them over towards the couch for a moment and took a seat between them.

"Did we do something wrong?" Richard asked as he looked over at Elliot, like he already knew they were going to have a bit of a talking to. After all, the only time Elliot ever sat them down like this was when he needed to talk to them.
"No, but I think we need to talk about what just happened" Elliot started to explain.
"Chloe called you daddy and she doesn't call you that, so I was helping teach her the right thing" Elizabeth tried to defend herself as Elliot just looked at her.
"I know you were honey and I know Olivia knows you were too, so we're not mad. But sometimes when we try and teach someone something, they can misunderstand that we're trying to help. Now, you guys know that Chloe is only almost 2, she's still very young and she doesn't know as much as you do. She's learning new words and new things every day" Elliot tried to explain as the twins just nodded.
"Now you don't know it but every day and every time you say something or you spend time with her, you're actions are teaching her. She looks up to you two so much and she wants to be as big as you two are already and to do everything that you two get to do" Elliot continued.
"That's why I can't play with my Lego downstairs when she's around, because she might not do the right thing and get hurt. But if she moves in with us...I'm never going to be allowed to play Lego downstairs whilst she's so young" Richard complained and Elliot just looked at him, where was this discussion about moving in coming from?
"We'll look at that when that happens but who said anything about moving in yet?"
"Lizzie"
"Did not" Elizabeth defended herself
"Did too! You asked Livvy why she doesn't live with us when we were at the park today" Richard explained and Elliot sighed.
"And she said she won't move in as we don't have the space. So, Chloe won't always be here and you can play your legos" Elizabeth yelled back, Elliot had to get this under control before the twins lost it at each other.
"Enough! Look, that's a conversation for another day and if that time does come when Chloe and Olivia move in with us then we'll work something out Dickie. But that's getting off track, what I was trying to say was that Chloe is learning from everything you do and say when she's around, she may copy you from time to time because she thinks that's the right thing to do. But if she gets it wrong, just like she called me daddy today, it's because she's heard you two do it a lot and she wants to fit in. You don't need to attack her over it like today, just like you wouldn't like it if someone yelled at you when you made a mistake. You need to try and be considerate with each other" Elliot tried to calm the twins down. There was so much they had told him just now that he would have to discuss with Olivia at another stage.
"But you're not her daddy, we don't call Livvy mommy, so she shouldn't call you daddy" Elizabeth defended her actions.
"Let Olivia and I work that one out, ok? Let us focus on what Chloe calls me or us and you two just focus on trying to be good examples to her, ok?" Elliot suggested.
"Ok daddy" The twins agreed
"Now, can you two change the game up in a way that I can play with you all too? I will go and see if Chloe and Livvy have found an afternoon snack for us before we have to get ready for my party and Lucy is coming tonight to watch you three" Elliot explained as he pressed a kiss to both the twins' heads and made his way into the kitchen.

A while later the issues from earlier this afternoon had all been forgotten. Elliot had given Gusto the night off, ordered a pizza for the kids dinner and Lucy had just arrived to mind them. Now, he was just waiting on Olivia who had said she'd be down in a moment. The kids were all playing happily together now and Lucy promised that she wouldn't let them stay up too late. He didn't know what Olivia wanted for Chloe but he'd already given Lucy permission to let the twins stay up later than usual tonight as it was a special occasion. Elliot heard a noise from the stairs and looked up to see Olivia walking down towards him, looking as radiant as ever. Watching her, he felt like the luckiest man on the planet to have her on his arm tonight. He spotted the necklace she was wearing, was the one he'd given her for Christmas and he'd specifically chosen the cufflinks that she'd bought him for christmas with his suit tonight.

"Wow" Elliot remarked as Olivia joined him at the bottom of the stairs.
"Do I look alright?" Olivia asked as Elliot pressed a kiss to her cheek.
"You look stunning" Elliot encouraged and noticed how Olivia blushed at his comment.
"Momma pweety" Chloe said as the kids had been distracted from the game with the adult conversation.
"Thank you honey. Can you come and give me a hug before we go?" Olivia asked as Chloe got up and ran over to say goodbye to Elliot and Olivia.
"Chloe, can you say 'Elliot, you look very handsome?" Olivia encouraged as she held the little girl in her arms.
"Ellot asdlkahsd 'ook hanasasdom" Chloe attempted to echo, the words getting slightly jumbled with toddler talk but Elliot understood the message all the same.
"Thank you, sweetheart. Now, will you be a good girl for Lucy tonight whilst mommy and I are out?" Elliot asked as he brushed Chloe's hair softly and pressed a kiss on her head as well before Olivia put her down again.
"Ok Ellot" Chloe agreed and Elliot smiled, she was back to calling him 'Ellot' again after this afternoons slip of the tongue.
"Good girl, we'll see you in the morning"
"Nu-night" Chloe waved to the adults.
"Night Chloe, I love you and I'll see you in the morning"
"ove you" Chloe echoed as Olivia gave her one last hug and she ran back over to whatever she had been doing with the twins before. Elliot had already wished the twins goodnight and thanked Lucy again for agreeing to watch the kids, before leaving in the elevator.

Olivia's breath was taken away the minute the couple walked into the ballroom, Elliot had really gone all out with the decorations and she couldn't believe how glamorous it all looked compared to how she'd seen it earlier. Looking around the room it was clear to see why Elliot had been so incredibly busy this week or so, the place looked amazing. She was always proud of Elliot but she felt even more so right now, looking at everything he had done, she leaned in and pressed a kiss on his cheek. They made their rounds in the room, greeting different people who had already arrived and made sure to take the time to greet others. Tonight, Olivia was one proud girlfriend and would spend the next couple of hours playing that role along with perfect hostess. She could hold a business conversation and had already done some reading up this week, on who was coming to the event so she knew what to keep conversation about. She had really done her homework to prepare for tonight and that blew Elliot away, she cared that much to do all the work for his event. Elliot had really worried in the past that the first event Olivia came to was a once off and that she wouldn't take well to his side of life with all the functions. But Olivia was proving him wrong right now and she seemed to take to these events like a duck to water, amazing him and everyone else in the room who told him so. Kathy was nothing like this, she would struggle with all the people and to hold conversation, she seemed really out of place whilst Olivia seemed to be a complete natural.

11:30pm and the party was winding down for the night, people wanted to get out and find a good vantage spot for the fireworks or to be elsewhere to ring in the new year. However, there were a selection of people whom Elliot had encouraged to come up to the roof for the fireworks. The rooftop had one of the best views in his opinion of the midnight fireworks, only the luckiest of people got invited up there. Olivia found him as he was thanking the staff for their help with the event and encouraging them to leave the packing up till either after midnight or tomorrow. Olivia had already grabbed their coats and Elliot helped her put on her coat before putting on his. Elliot slipped his hand into hers and they lead the way to the elevators for the group. Olivia struck up a conversation with the wife of one of Elliot's financial advisors as they made their way to the elevator, they were discussing kids and toddlers and Elliot just stood listening politely.

"So, how come it's taken you 3 months to have us in the same space as your beautiful girlfriend?" Finn asked as he stood next to Elliot in the elevator and Charlie was across from them.
"It hasn't been 3 months, has it?" Elliot asked and the men just laughed.
"Last time we went out for a bite to eat, you weren't even in a relationship with her, yet. You told us all about her both then and when you became official, but that was over a skype call. We've never had the chance to meet her till tonight. Every other time we've tried to get together you've simply blown us off because you were away or you had plans already" Charlie remarked and Elliot had to admit he felt a little guilty about how he had neglected his friends. It had been a while since they'd had a guys night but he wasn't interested in the same things they were anymore. Whenever they went out for a night, one thing or another would always lead to them ending up in a strip club, Elliot didn't have that interest anymore. He hadn't been interested in it that much back then but he definitely wasn't now as he was in a serious committed relationship with Olivia.
"I can't help it, if she gave me a better offer at the time" Elliot apologised with a slight smile as they reached the top floor and walked up the last few stairs for the roof.

Elliot found Olivia a short time later, standing to one side of the group and admiring the view from the rooftop over the Manhattan skyline. He had been to grab them a drink for midnight toasts and knew he'd find her looking over the skyline as Olivia had always been obsessed with his city views. He didn't understand why she had such a fascination but he loved it because he loved her.
"Thank you" Olivia smiled as he handed her a glass of champagne.
"My pleasure, I see you've already met Finn and Charlie" Elliot remarked as he'd been watching her interact with Finn and Charlie, worried they were going to say something inappropriate.
"Yeah, they're lovely. Although, they did have a lot of questions as to whether I had a twin sister and then continued to let me know that if I ever want something different to you, they're open. I told them they were dreaming and I couldn't see that happening but I promised not to keep stealing all your spare time" Olivia explained and Elliot just shook his head with a smile, that sounded like the kind of conversation his friends would have.
"They're just jealous that I've kept you away from them since we got together but you can see now why I did. Even though I know they're harmless. But in terms of my spare time, you didn't steal anything, it's all yours whenever you want it. I know I've been kind of neglecting you and the kids yet but-"
"You haven't been neglecting us, you've been busy and after tonight, I can see clearly why it had taken up all your time and you were so busy. Honey, none of us think any less of you for it and we never will" Olivia interrupted and Elliot wasn't prepared to just drop this kind of conversation.
"But about what Liz-" Elliot started, wanting to bring up the topic she'd talked about at the park with Elizabeth today, since they were talking about time.

"El, Chloe was fine as soon as I redirected her attention. Elizabeth was just trying to help out and before that, Chloe had been parroting what the others had said, she thought that was right. She's only almost 2 and she doesn't properly know what she's saying and what she shouldn't be saying. As soon as Gusto gave us the cookies, she was as happy as anything"
"That's not what I'm talking about but Olivia, I already think of that girl has mine. I don't care that she's not my flesh and blood, I want to raise her like she is. I want to be that man that she calls daddy and I want to tell people she's mine. Olivia, I don't always want to be 'Ellot' to her or even Elliot for that matter, when the timing is right, I want to officially adopt her" Elliot confessed as he took Olivia's hand in his where they stood on the rooftop. He knew it couldn't be long now till the new year arrived and he felt like ending the current with a confession of what he wanted to happen in the new year, was the right way to end things. Olivia had been thinking the exact same thing.

"Elliot, since we're being honest here, I need to tell you that there is nothing I would want more than for you to adopt Chloe. You have changed our lives completely this year, really just in these past few months you've changed our worlds for the better. To think that when the school year started, you were just some dad whom no one at school knew much about other than he ran a multi-millionaire business but never attended or even really paid attention to letters or messages from school" Olivia explained and Elliot smiled as he looked right in her eye, heart bursting from her confession right now.
"But then my daughter somehow ended up in your class and I met you"
"You met me and somehow you went from that frustrating class parent to the love of my life. I'm supposed to be the teacher but you have taught me what true love is supposed to be like. You've taught me that my past doesn't define my future or the person that I am. Baby, I love you and I can't wait to see where this next year takes us and all the years after that" Olivia confessed as she heard the people around her start to count down. They weren't far off from the new year but these two love birds were wrapped up in their own little world right now.
"5...4..." The group around them shouted.
"I love you too and I know that this new year is going to be more perfect than the current year, as long as I am with you" Elliot explained as he pulled Olivia in for that magical midnight kiss. Ther was just something special about that kiss, something that told both of them they were in it for the long haul, that what had happened this year was just the beginning and both were equally excited to see where it went next.

The End

A/N: Awwww, how sweet of an ending! Elliot wants to adopt Chloe and Lizzie asked Olivia to move in? This book might be over but the adventures of these two and their kids is far from over. They're still in the 'honeymoon' phase of a relationship and have so many more adventures to tell. Thank you to all of you for sticking with me and I hope that you have enjoyed this story just as much as I've enjoyed writing it, even with some long breaks between chapters. During everything with this pandemic, escaping into the world of this Olivia and Elliot with Chloe, Elizabeth and Richard has been a kind of escape for me and brought me more joy than I can explain. I have re-found my love of writing and I hope you've enjoyed the adventures these two have been on.

But, their story is not over. There are plenty of more adventures and moments to share, both the good and the bad as beware, the sequel is starting to take quite a rollercoaster ride. I held off posting this chapter, to wrap up 'Teaching Love' as I wanted to make sure that I had a title for the sequel. Now I do and in the next 'Chapter' you will find a sneak peek to the prologue of 'Finding the Future' which will be coming to in a couple of months. Make sure you have my notifications or are following me to be one of the first to know when it's posted.
Thank you again for all your kind reviews and reads of my first book Teaching Love and I hope to see you again for 'Finding the Future'.