Chapter 22

Sunday

9:03 a.m.

Alex quietly stepped into the bedroom now. Her parents and Katie were with the kids upstairs, feeding them a breakfast of oatmeal and bananas, and the blonde was coming back down to catch a glimpse of her wife, still not believing that she was here.

She stood next to her wife's side, nearest the cribs, arms folded and smiling, still in her baby blue silk robe, hair down, glasses on.

She couldn't believe her wife was lying in bed, finally in the flesh.

Olivia had said it would be ten days but, to Alex's fortunate surprise, it had been less.

And that's how good her wife was as a detective, as an undercover agent.

She watched Olivia, now in her black chemise, lying on her back, head deep into her pillow, arms and legs spread out, mouth parted and breathing heavily. She was sleeping so soundly and, the way she had spoken to her on the phone, what she had told her about not sleeping well, it seemed her body was finally catching up with her.

She moved around the bed, to her own side, and placed her left knee on top, still watching her.

God, she looked gorgeous. Sun-kissed, tanned body lying there, her chestnut hair splayed on her pillow. And all Alex wanted to do was climb on top of her and show her how thankful she was to have her home.

But she would refrain, for now, and let her rest.

Olivia would wake up in her own time and she knew that she would tell the blonde what she needed to know as she saw fit. That much, Alex was certain of.

Around six o'clock that morning, the brunette had gotten out of bed and had taken a shower before returning to bed around seven. She had, most likely, also gone upstairs to have a snack because, at one point, she had left the bedroom, after bathing, and was gone for a little while.

But Alex wanted to give her wife her space. She wanted to let Olivia decompress and unwind in her own way after such a stressful ordeal for both of them.

She looked at the foot bench to her left and saw her dress that she had gone to the job in, laying there, her shoes on the floor. It was obvious that her wife had been just as eager to come home, to just strip and join her in bed, as she had been for those five long nights.

"Mmmm," Olivia moaned.

Alex smiled even more broadly now, just waiting.

How she wanted her to open her eyes, for them to begin the conversations of the day, for things to return to normal. But she would be a patient wife, for now.

"Al?" Olivia said, her eyes closed, a smile now spread across that beautiful caramel face.

"Yeah, Babe." Alex moved onto the mattress now and crawled toward her wife before lying down to her left, on her right side, just watching her.

"I got it done in five days Babe." Olivia yawned then. Letting out another moan.

"You did, Liv. I'm so proud of you."

Olivia smiled again, this time stretching, her back arching, and Alex couldn't help but ogle her breasts.

"Mmmm. Makes me happy that you say that."

"Well, I am."

Olivia opened her eyes now and turned her head. "Yeah?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah."

Olivia moved onto her left side now and just looked at her. "I've been waiting for this. Waiting to look at you. Those eyes."

Alex arched a brow, smiling.

Olivia nodded. "Your eyes, your legs, your...everything, Babe. I've missed everything."

Alex inched even closer still, wrapping her left arm around her wife and snuggling with her.

She heard Olivia take a deep breath now and let it out against her face. And even that was Heavenly.

This was everywhere she needed to be. Perfection in this simple moment.

"Let me know when you wanna go up. The kids are gonna be so surprised and my parents and Katie are so excited to see you." Alex smiled, tracing light patterns along the belly of her wife's silky nightwear.

"Just a few more minutes Al. Just…let's stay like this. You feel too good. And..." she took a deep breath and let it out against her temple, "...you smell too good."

Alex looked at her wife's face—right there—and saw the peace, the serenity, the absolute calm that she knew only happened when the brunette was at her most serene moments.

Like right now.

Alex lifted her upper body now and looked down at her wife.

Those brown eyes opened and looked at her—a slight smile turning serious within milliseconds. She watched Olivia swallow, her eyes mist o-so-slightly.

"You're glad to be home, Liv?" Alex almost answered for her.

Olivia nodded slowly, her eyes drifting down from Alex's eyes to her nose, then settling on her mouth. "You have no idea," she whispered.

"I think I do, Babe," Alex smirked.

"Come here…" Olivia said softly.

And Alex did just that. She moved further onto her wife, aligning her face, her mouth, looking into those warm, brown eyes before pressing her lips to Olivia's.

The softness was intoxicating. The warm feel of the plushness sent signals south, to the lower half of her body. And feeling her wife's breath on her face, the light, high moaning sound that came from her at contact, was all Alex had been dreaming and daydreaming about over the past five days.

Alex pulled away and slowly opened her eyes to find Olivia's eyes still closed.

"God, Alex." That was all Olivia said.

Alex only smiled, knowing that, now that her wife was home and safe and the hardest part of the job was done, they would have many, many more moments to share even more of their desires and pent-up love for one another.

Olivia entered the kitchen ahead of her wife, her arms folded, smiling at the three adults and three children who were too enraptured in eating to notice that she had entered from the hallway.

She had changed into a pair of cropped jeans and a black tank top, her hair down, her feet bare, and her wife had changed into a pair of fitted green cargo pants and a square-necked crocheted tank, flip flops and a ponytail on.

Olivia brought her lips inward and moved closer now, even closer to the table, stepping carefully, and then Theo caught eyes with her, a moment of stunned disbelief on his face, before a huge smile spread across his caramel complexion and he began laughing and clapping.

"Mama!" he beamed.

And the entire family looked up now, smiles on each and every one of their cheerful faces. Bill and Katie and Cathy stood, the twins holding their arms out to be hugged and picked up, Theo doing the same.

Olivia made the rounds with the adults first, hugging each tightly, before she moved to kiss Isabel and Grace repeatedly, holding their tiny smiling cheeks, and then moved to Theo and took him from his highchair and held him on her hip, looking at him.

"Mama!" he beamed again, grabbing her face in both of his little hands, and kissing her with slobbery, air-propelled kisses.

Olivia laughed and held him to her body. "Oh, Theo…I hear you missed your Mama?"

Theo looked at her now, still holding her cheeks. "Mama come back? Mama here stay with me?" His little face was intent, those huge blue eyes so concerned, so innocent.

"Yeah, Baby. Mama is here. Mama is staying with Theo and Izzy and Gracie and Mommy!" She looked at Alex.

Alex was smiling and Olivia could feel the blonde running her hand along her back slowly, up and down. Then she felt her wife's chin on her right shoulder. "Your Mama's here, Theo," she said softly.

"Mama!" Isabel yelled from her chair.

"Mama go swim with me?" Theo asked.

"Yeah, Baby. Mama is going to go swimming with you." Olivia smiled down at Theo in her arms before looking to her right at her wife's beautiful face.

Those eyes. That nose. That mouth.

"Yea!" he cheered.

"We're glad to have you back Olivia. That didn't take much time at all." Bill Cabot's eyes sparkled.

Olivia took in a breath and let it out. "No, it didn't Bill. But it was long enough." She smiled at Theo who was now squeezing her cheeks and placing more of his slobber-filled kisses on her mouth, as he now tugged on her ears.

"And you're here to stay, Dear? The undercover is over?" Cathy questioned.

"Yeah…the undercover part is over. Staying in Easthampton is over. Now, we have to move forward with the trial. I have to head to the courts building for some arraignments at three today. But at this point, it's like regular work. I'll be home in the evenings on days I have to work on the case. But it won't be every day." Olivia bounced Theo and gasped and smiled. "Right, my boy?" She looked back at the older members of the family. "But I might have to head back to Manhattan sooner rather than later."

"Well, it's good to have you back," Katie offered. "Our little Alexandra really missed you and your precious babies, as well."

Olivia looked at Alex again. "Oh and, believe me, Katie…I missed her." She winked at her wife.
"And our beautiful babies. Right guys?"

The kids all cheered and began babbling and the brunette looked at her wife.

She was back.

Although there was still work to be done on the case and they would most likely have to head back into the city slightly earlier than originally anticipated, she could deal with it knowing that she was back at home, with her family.

And there was no where else in life that she would ever rather be.

Epilogue

Three Months Later

The four men involved in the illegal sexual acts of minors got twenty-five years each. Camila Benetti and Priscilla Keene were convicted of aiding sexual trafficking of minors, drug trafficking, and received thirty years. Kaia Schiffer entered a drug rehab program funded by the FBI and was told that she could work her way through the bureau and back up in her career, given time and determination.

The Benetti-Keene beach house was put up at auction for an estimated $24 million dollars and the Pacific Lane beach house finally ended up being sold to a female pop star that had three number one hits on the current Billboard 100 at the time.

A/N: And that's the end of this story! I hope you enjoyed it.

As you know there are many different sections to this story. Some people ask what order they should read them in. Honestly, I would start at Part I and go through Part IV. Then the other stories, because at least it's a baseline for when the other stories fit in.

Just a side note: I will, in all likelihood, be adding to the Memories" story. I might also begin another story in a month or so. So please follow or favorite me as an author or follow or favorite the story, if you haven't done so already:)

Thank you for taking the time to read this particular story. As we know, Alex and Olivia's lives continue after this. There's more love. There's more lovin' (sexy times). Good times and not so good times. Kids growing up, sexy trips, and our ladies going through some of the hard realities of life—always with the gorgeous Olivia Benson and her swagger, and that classically beautiful Alex Cabot and her regal posture.

If you do happen to read a story you might not have read or reviewed before, after this one, please do take a moment and leave a review or comment, as I am always here and I always respond.

Thank you, especially, to those of you who have stuck with me as an author on FF and AO3 for a while. Your support means so much.

Take care in good health and in love to everyone out there!