Chapter Sixteen – Tempus edax rerum (Time Devours all things – Ovid)

A/N: I secretly don't want to write this last chapter. But by the time you're reading it – it will have been too late. I love this piece of fiction and writing it has been one of the most rewarding things I've done in a while, because it reminded me that I had the ability to do so tucked away.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my logophilia.

1 Year Later

Knock. Knock.

"Yeah?" Elliot Stabler was sitting on the edge of a bed, staring at the door when it slowly opened and he was surprised to see his daughter, Kathleen, walk into the room.

"Hey, dad." She smiled at him as she closed it softly, leaning against the solid door. "You nervous?" She asked, her blue eyes catching in the light as she played with something behind her back.

"Just a little. What do you have?" He was bouncing his leg and the bed was moving behind him, as Kathleen sighed and walked over to sit next to her father, she pulled out the manila envelope that he hadn't seen for almost fifteen months. "Katie, I don't care what is in there – " He looked sideways at his daughter who took a deep breath and shook her head.

"Dad, listen. I know you don't care about the papers that mom put in there, but I really do think you should read the letter…I did." She admitted, opening the envelope and pulling out the letter that she had read. "I think it'll help you be not so nervous." She smiled kindly at her father. "I think if mom were here, she'd be your biggest cheerleader today." Katie took a deep breath and reached her delicate fingers into the powder blue envelope and took out the folded letter. There wasn't much to it, because it was only one page, Elliot noted. "I'm going to read it to you, alright dad?"

"Sure." He placed his hand in the upper middle part of his daughter's back, and wrapped his arm around her, just like he had done countless times when she was younger.

Dear Elliot,

We had a hell of a ride, you know that? I am hoping that when you finally do decide to read this letter, it will be when you have taken the leap of faith and not thrown away the chance I'm giving you. If you have thrown away that chance, I will find a way to torture you ruthlessly for the rest of your life. These things don't just happen, Elliot.

You don't just fall in love for the sake of falling in love with someone. It happens gradually and then all at once. But, it never was gradual with Olivia. She is a good person, Elliot. She deserves happiness. You deserve happiness. I've told our children that while we love one another, there's a difference between compulsory love and real love. Compulsory love is a load of bullshit and usually it ends up being one-sided. Unless you know when to walk away when things turn sour. You've been a detective long enough that you know how quickly things can go south. I've been a nurse long enough to know how quickly things can escalate from love to hatred to violence.

If you are reading this and you are getting married – I hope you know I'm happy for you. I've never been prouder that you've finally taken the steps to be happy. Our kids will grow to love her. What am I saying, it's most definitely Olivia and they already know her, so growing to love her will be easy. They're adults now, Elliot. We did our part – we were good parents. You were an excellent father. I'm just sorry you never got the chance to be an excellent father with a child that shared yours and Olivia's genes. That* is a child that would have been a beautiful pain in the ass.

Be happy, El. Love her, love her deeply and faithfully. Treat her with honor and respect. Laugh with her. Fall in love with her every single day. Hold her close every single night.

Time is not a luxury we can just waste – and we're all given a limited time here make the most of it, Elliot.

Liv can give you everything I can't…blood, a kidney, stability, and an understanding of every aspect of your lightness and darkness. She can also talk to you without speaking and that, Elliot, is the true test of compatibility & comfort.

I'll always love you, and I wish you both the best.

Kathy

Katie folded the letter and tucked it into the envelope. "So, there you go." she shrugged. "It was short and sweet, and to the point, Dad. She's right though, it's not hard to love Olivia. You have to promise me that you'll always do your best to show her just how loved she is. You know she has a hard time believing things like that. It comes from her youth."

"You two are close, aren't you?"

"Dad, she helped save my life." Katie shrugged. "She showed me that even though I was a hot mess at seventeen, I could use it to better the lives of others. We all go through things, and we can fight against the change, or we can accept it." she stood and straightened out her dress that she was wearing, "Olivia has a better speech, I'm sure you've heard it a million times, and it's much more eloquent than I could ever make it – but that's the gist of it."

"What about the others?" Elliot asked, he was really grasping at straws here.

"Stop. We all love her. Mom made sure to explain it to all of us in our own individual letters. It's easier to accept things when all the facts are just spelled out in a no-nonsense manner – she had to do the least selling to me though, on the idea of you two being in love or even together. She used to say that I honestly belonged to you and Olivia." Katie smiled, "And don't worry about Noah, because you make his mother happy, so he loves you and enjoys spending time with you because you will sit and watch him dance for hours. Lizzie loves Noah because when she sits at the piano and plays he'll make up dances and it's made her fall in love with playing again. She hadn't played piano in years…Richard, well, at first he was slightly annoyed – but that's because mom had only been dead two weeks when you blurted out you loved Olivia." she gave her father a look of annoyance. "But when he sat down and thought about it, I mean REALLY thought about it, he realized what an ass he had been. So stop sitting there questioning everything, get your ass up, and go marry the love of your life before I send Fin up here to cut you."

"You've been talking to Fin?"

"He's a smart man, dad. He's giving Olivia away to you…along with Cragen. C'mon, let's go." Katie held her hand out as her father took it and drew her into a hug.

"Thank you, Katie." He whispered, kissing his daughter on the top of her head.

"Let's go make Liv your partner for life." She guided her father out of the room as they made their way out of the apartment and to the elevator. As the door closed, Katie looked over at her father with a crooked smile and he reached down and took hold of her hand in his.

When the elevator stopped at the bottom floor they climbed into the black SUV that was waiting on them. The woman in the driver's seat looked in the rearview mirror. "Sergeant Stabler. Kathleen."

"Lieutenant Bell." Elliot smiled at his commanding officer, as they drove off to the courthouse.

They wanted something small, intimate, and them. So, they'd elected to go before an old acquaintance of theirs to get married – Judge Elizabeth Donnelly. Who, when asked if she would join them in marriage, had a similar reaction that Fin had exhibited when Elliot has proposed to Olivia. It was a small chuckle, "It's about damn time, Stabler."