Prompt #14: An unexpected guest shows up during Thanksgiving dinner

Thankful

~oOo~

He had promised Olivia he would grab her wallet from her desk rather than her having to run back to the precinct to get it. Elliot had to drop off some files downtown so it was just as simple for him to stop into the 16th Precinct and grab the leather item, he even kept his comments to himself about how she should've put it in her purse.

It was quiet, although he would never say it out loud. Everyone knew you didn't discuss how busy a squad room was unless you wanted to tempt fate. He said hello to the desk sergeant, made his way past Velasco who avoided eye contact and mumbled something about seeing him later. Because yes, Joe Velasco was dating his second eldest child and although Elliot had been told specifically to bite his tongue and accept that they were two consenting adults, he didn't like it one bit.

It was on his way out though that he was caught by a familiar pair of brown eyes and his breath instantly caught in his throat. It couldn't be. Olivia hadn't mentioned him, not since he had been back, not since the two of them had gotten together. Hell, she and Noah had moved into his place and he hadn't even seen a picture. Elliot stepped forward slowly, studying the familiar features of a boy he had once known who had grown into an adult. "Calvin?" Elliot's brow creased, "Calvin Arliss?" Of course, he hadn't forgotten his name. He could never forget someone who meant so much to Olivia. "It's uh, I'm…" god, what was he? Who was he? "Elliot Stabler, I was Olivia's partner back then…"

The boy, the man, Calvin, nodded his head, mumbled something about remembering him. Remembering a heated game of rock paper scissors and Elliot smiled broadly, recalling the same memory himself. "Is…is she here? Detective Benson? I was in the neighborhood. Nothing is wrong, I just wanted to see her. Thank her."

Calvin Arliss wouldn't be the first or last man who felt the need to thank Olivia Benson for her commitment to them, Elliot was certainly familiar with the feeling. "It's uh, it's Captain Benson now." Elliot smiled proudly. He would never tire of calling her that, whether it be publicly or in the confines of their bedroom. It would always sound perfect rolling off of his tongue. "But no, Olivia isn't here. Everything alright?" Elliot wondered for a moment if this wasn't a social call. If the kid had somehow gotten himself in trouble and like so many people, felt he would be able to get some help from Olivia. That was who Olivia was of course. Once she loved you…she would always be there. "Anything I can do?"

Calvin smirked. It wouldn't be outrageous to expect that something was wrong and that is why after all these years, he had looked up the woman who had taken him in when no one else would. "I uh…my grandparents took me in, raised me. They did their best," Calvin explained. "Tried to keep in touch…but it got hard, and well, I was a kid, Olivia had this job that was so important."

"You lost touch." Elliot understood better than most.

"I got a job," he explained, "a new job, teaching. Moved here a few weeks ago, and now that I'm settled, I just wanted to say hi. Check in. She uh…she wasn't at her old address. The apartment from back then."

It was a whole other lifetime ago. Calvin and Vivian, her old apartment, the old team…a million years ago. "I can help," he gave Calvin a quick smile, "you free?" Calvin nodded his head and Elliot shouted another goodbye to Joe, this time not saying anything about seeing the detective later. "You got a car?" Elliot asked as they got in the elevator a moment later. Calvin told him he didn't, that he walked. "It's Thanksgiving," Elliot stated simply and he wasn't sure if he needed to say anything else. That was the invitation, that was where Elliot was bringing Calvin. "Olivia and I…we uh, we are together," it had never felt this strange to say, but it felt just as weird to show up with Calvin not understanding the dynamic he was about to walk into. "It's at our place. That alright? It'll be our kids. There's six of em' so it's a lot."

"Olivia had six kids?" Was all Calvin could muster, his dark hair moving with him as he followed Elliot out of the elevator and to his waiting SUV. "Jesus."

Elliot laughed as he unlocked the door and they both got in, "I had five. Liv has one. A son." He felt a pang of guilt. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. Elliot was used to feeling plenty of guilt when it came to Olivia, but he couldn't help but wonder if maybe she would've had two sons if Elliot hadn't been such a dick about Vivian and Calvin. He wondered if he and Olivia might've had a biological child, or maybe they would've adopted Noah together…all of the things that could've been different if he hadn't been such a fucking coward. That wasn't Calvin's fault though, or Noah's. It was just another thing he had to come to terms with on his own, the life that could have been was not the life he had. But he loved their life. He loved coming home to Olivia curled up on the couch reading a book with a candle and a glass of wine in hand. He loved when all of the kids were together laughing and teasing each other, and he loved that for the first time, Elliot and Olivia were hosting a holiday meal and it felt perfect. Bringing Calvin home, showing Olivia that he was good, that the world hadn't eaten him up and spat him out…it was a good feeling. "What do you teach? Elliot changed the subject.

"Special education," Calvin told him. Elliot caught his eye and the older man couldn't help but notice how Calvin's eyes sparkled as he spoke about his job. "I've been doing it for a few years, but this is my first job in the city. Haven't been at it long, but the kids…they're good kids. They need people who want to be there, people who are invested."

Elliot noticed how Calvin's voice drifted off and he understood. Calvin may not have wanted to be a cop, but he wanted to help people who needed him, and he was doing that. "Pretty amazing," Elliot assured him. "My youngest daughter, Liz, she's a teacher."

"She the one dating the guy you didn't like at the precinct?"

"Who says I don't like Velasco?"

"Anyone with eyes?"

"He's dating my daughter." Elliot shrugged. "Katie…she is…well she is everything, and Olivia saved her, and me a long time ago. So I don't want her messing around with guys who don't deserve her. Aren't worthy."

"And you set that bar?" Calvin was grinning now and Elliot obviously understood his point. "I'm just saying he seemed like a decent guy. He's a cop, protects people. Olivia wouldn't keep him around if he wasn't a decent guy."

"You sure you only spent a few weeks with her? Cuz it feels like Liv mighta rubbed off on you."

Calvin chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. He was nervous. He considered it a compliment though. The idea that maybe some part of him had Olivia Benson helping him through his hardest moments. "I was mad," Calvin began, "for a long time. Thought she didn't want me, that she didn't wanna fight for me. As I got older, I understood. My grandparents were doing what they thought was best, everyone was. But if anyone hadda asked me, I woulda wanted to stay. Y'know? I woulda chosen to be with her."

Elliot understood that feeling better than most. He knew what it was to love and lose her, and he imagined that the feeling of her as a mother being taken away…well that sounded like hell. "She worried about you," Olivia had never explicitly told him that, but Elliot knew Olivia, and he could say with certainty that she had kept tabs on the boy as he grew up. She would've been watching over him from afar. "She's gonna be really glad to see you. I promise."

They filled the drive with idle chatter. Calvin asked Elliot what he had been doing at the precinct, he asked about his time in Rome, about his kids so he would at least know a few names. He wondered why it had taken so long for the two of them to get together when it had been so obvious to anyone with eyes that they belonged to each other.

"You ready?" Elliot asked as he pulled into his parking spot. He was acutely aware of the cars belonging to his children on the street. Kathleen and his mother had taken an Uber. Carl and Maureen had driven from their place on Long Island, Richard had parked his car a few houses up, and he would've brought his girlfriend with him, and Liz would've come with her boyfriend by train with every intention of making her twin brother drive them home. Eli was staying at the house. He had flown home from California a couple of days earlier and the apartment was going to be packed.

"Thanks for the ride." Calvin was out of the car and following a couple of steps behind Elliot. He stayed back, letting Elliot make his presence known. He heard laughter and excitement. The squeal of two kids who were excited that their Grandpa was home, and then he heard the voice he would never forget.

"I brought someone home, Liv," Elliot told her, nodding to the door where Calvin had remained planted, seemingly unable to move from his spot. "Picked him up at the precinct lookin' for a detective."

Olivia laughed, Elliot had made his way into the apartment and she walked slowly towards the door. "If this is Munch coming after I invited him…" her voice drifted off and all of the sound in the room went away as she came face to face with him. Brown eyes and wavy brown hair. He was fit but not too muscular. He shuffled on his feet and gave her a smile that she would've known anywhere. Olivia clapped her hand over her mouth for a moment, her eyes welling with tears. "Oh my god," she whispered, "are you…are you ok?" He nodded his response, a tentative smile on his lips. "May I hug you?" Once again he nodded and Olivia wrapped her arms around him. Securing him in a hug that she hoped made him feel safe like it had all those years ago. "You're here," she whispered. "Oh my god, you're here."

"I'm sorry to crash your party," Calvin mumbled and Olivia let out a huge roaring laugh and told him that he had made this holiday better than she ever could've imagined. "I was just going to stop by the precinct and say hi. I'm working in the city now."

"This is better," Olivia told him, slowly bringing him into the house which was buzzing with chaos. Eli and Noah were playing Playstation on the couch, Richard and his girlfriend Bailey along with Liz and her boyfriend Mark were pouring drinks in the kitchen. Maureen and Kathleen were prepping dinner while Bernie sat on a stool and chatted. Elliot was grabbing a beer, Carl was watching the boys who were doing some sort of puzzle that Elliot had grabbed for them. "What can I get you? Water? Soda? Wine? Beer? Uhm…we've got juice? Milk? Sparkling water?"

"Water would be great," Calvin told her with a smile. Everyone she walked by, she introduced, just a brief introduction, this is my, my Calvin she told them all excitedly and they all greeted him warmly. "Don't think I've ever been to a Thanksgiving like this," Calvin admitted. His statement wasn't meant to be one that hurt, he had loved his grandparents, but there was a small part of him that wondered what life would've been like if he hadn't been taken away from her. Would this be his family?

"Noah," Olivia called as she handed Calvin his water, "Noah sweetheart, come here." It took a moment for her little boy with a mop of brown hair and beautiful blue eyes to walk over to his mother. "Noah, this is Calvin. I've told you about him before." And she had. She had told Noah the story of the little boy who really made her believe that maybe she was meant to be a mother. The boy who stole her heart before he had. "Calvin, this is my son Noah." She had her hands on Noah's shoulders as the two boys said hello to each other. Noah shook Calvin's hand and greeted him warmly and Calvin did the same. "And Noah if you think your room is small, this guy," she nodded at Calvin, "he had to crash on my couch, and sometimes I would crash on the couch so he could take the bed."

"It was a good couch," Calvin chuckled. "I slept on way worse in college."

Olivia could only imagine. The pair sat down in chairs that faced each other, Elliot lingering beside them in the third seat on the couch beside the boys who were playing once again. Noah had told Calvin he wanted them to play something together and Calvin had readily agreed. Playing video games was certainly an easy way to bond with a kid, he knew that much. "I want to know everything," Olivia told him quietly. Her voice caught in her throat as she thought about him. All the years she had missed. "I kept tabs on you," she admitted softly. "Just to make sure you hadn't gotten into any trouble." She had never told anyone that. It was a secret that she had guarded. Olivia had convinced herself that the only one who truly understood how losing Calvin had affected her was Elliot, and with him gone…no one else had really known. Fin had known, but Fin never pushed her to talk unless she wanted to. She had mentioned Calvin to her therapist a few times, but nothing profound had come from that. "I uh…was always relieved."

"That I wasn't in the system?" Olivia nodded. She hadn't expected him to be in the system, but it felt like the best way to keep tabs on him without directly involving herself in his life.

"I never thought you would be," she assured him. Sure, his mother had a complicated story, but Calvin had been a good kid. She had no reason to believe he was going to be a drug addict or a criminal or anything else untoward. She had prayed to a God she didn't believe in that he would be alright, and here he was, in the flesh. Olivia had purposely not dug too far into his life. She just made sure that he wasn't in jail or in trouble. She didn't stalk his social media or keep tabs on him any other way. Knowing that he was out there and not in trouble with the law was all she could give herself without him giving consent for the intrusion. "Tell me what you have been up to? Your life, your friends. Are you dating anyone? Married? Kids?" She wanted to know everything. Everything she couldn't glean from making sure he wasn't locked up.

Calvin laughed. The moment reminded him of when he went back to see his grandparents. "I went to UCLA," he told her, "got my degree. Then I went and get my teaching certificate. Taught for a while upstate. I just moved here for the beginning of the school year. Living with a friend in Brooklyn."

"Brooklyn." Olivia nodded, her smile growing as she thought of him being so close. "Wow. Close," she managed. Her voice was barely above a whisper and her eyes were glassy, tears of joy threatening to flow out at any moment.

"Maybe you could come see my class one day?" he suggested and Olivia nodded happily, wiping the tear that finally fell away as quickly as she could. "I'm not married, no kids," he answered her questions as they had come. "I'm in a relationship. Dating someone from work," Calvin paused, his eyes scanned the space. He couldn't believe how conversation was swirling around him but somehow he felt like it was just him and Olivia catching up. "He's a good guy. Kind. Works in IT at the school."

"I'm so happy for you," Olivia didn't skip a beat. "God…Calvin I'm so glad you're here. I just, I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to see you doing so well. If I had…any part in that, if there was any tiny part of our time together that helped you become the man that you are. I'm just so proud."

Calvin's heart swelled in his chest. She was proud of him. Calvin had never forgotten her. He had never forgotten the feeling of being wanted the way he had when he was with Olivia Benson. He had never forgotten how he felt when he gave her the drawing of her as a cop that she proudly displayed on her fridge. Calvin Benson, he called himself that when anyone asked his name for months after he had been taken from her. Sitting in front of her, in this space, with her people…it felt like coming home.

"Dad," a voice came and interrupted the moment. Elliot turned his head and Olivia glanced over and told Calvin it was Maureen talking, "can you pour the wine? Almost time for dinner."

"On it," Elliot mumbled. He stood up and gave Olivia's thigh a squeeze. "Glad you forgot your wallet." He smirked and nodded at Calvin who wouldn't even be there if it weren't for a strange sequence of events. "Where the hell is Velasco?"

"He's on his way, relax, Grumpy."

Olivia smirked and looked at Calvin, raising her eyebrows. "His kids give him that nickname when Joe is around. He likes Joe…another cop."

"I saw him at the precinct." Calvin nodded.

"El sees a lot of himself in Joe. So seeing his daughter in a relationship with someone who has some of his qualities…it is hard on him. But he's just being protective."

"He's a good dad." Calvin wished desperately that he had been a part of a family like this. Bustling parties and holidays, he could only imagine what a birthday party would be like with this group. "How long have you guys been together?" Calvin's brow creased as he thought back to just how close the pair had been when he had been younger. He knew that Elliot's concern for Olivia had gone far beyond a work partner, but he had also known that the man was married and he seemed nothing if not loyal.

"Not long," Olivia told him vaguely. "His wife passed away almost 2 years ago, and we've been living together for a few months now."

"Loves Noah?" Olivia nodded. "You were a good mom." Calvin paused for a moment and then corrected herself, "you are a good mom."

"Thank you." She was about to tell him that he was a part of it all. That she never would've believed that she could be a mom if it weren't for him, but she was interrupted by the sound of Elliot clanging something against the side of a pot.

"C'mon, time to eat. Thanksgiving is served."

Note: The author of this SVU: Fall in Love story will be revealed in November