Just wanted to say YAY for Mariska winning a Golden Globe! That (and the Patriots/Colts game) made my weekend. And now, on with the story...

The boardwalk was their destination the next day after sleeping late and having breakfast together. An arcade caught Rick's eye, and pretty soon he and Elliot were competing at some shooting game (Olivia would have been shocked if Rick came close to beating his father), Kathleen and Lizzie were competing at DDR-2, and Ben was happily playing a driving game. He didn't even need money to be inserted in order to enjoy himself; he just loved playing with the steering wheel, and was unaware that he wasn't creating the action on the screen.

"Hey, we ought to get our pictures taken," Lizzie told Kathleen as they finished with their game and she noticed a photo booth.

"I don't think we'd all fit," Kathleen told her. "I've tried having photo booth stuffing contests with my friends before. Someone's always missing a head."

"That's what makes it fun," Lizzie protested. Her sister smiled.

"Why don't you round up the boys and do it with them?" And she finally conceded.

"I think all four of you would have fit if you got creative," Olivia told her stepdaughter as she joined her on a bench. Kathleen shrugged.

"Less people to fight over who gets to keep the film strip when we're done."

"True."

"Three's easier than four," Kathleen said, almost absently, watching her father referee her siblings. Olivia took her hand.

"Three may be quieter than four on occasion, or eat less food than four, or even buy fewer clothes. But four is what we've got, and we wouldn't change that for anything. And by the time you've gotten to three, one more isn't noticeably any harder." Kathleen smiled.

"I guess you better be the one to keep an eye on the clock, since all of us Stablers are genetically prone to being late." Olivia smiled.

"No arguments, but why am I keeping an eye on the clock?"

"Well, you don't want to be late for dinner, do you?"

And the surprises kept coming. Elliot and Olivia had an unexpected reservation at a restaurant in town – a nice one – as a belated anniversary present. The one-six had said they would foot the bill. Kathleen was taking the younger three to the movies, and promised to get everyone to bed herself; Elliot and Olivia didn't have anything to worry about for the evening. And they had to admit, it was a nice feeling.

"So I'm thinking back on it now," Olivia told Elliot as they waited for their food. "Did we ever go out for a night like this before we got married?" His glass of iced tea stopped halfway to his mouth as he looked up, surprised.

"We had to have."

"I don't know. We had stolen weekends at your apartment when Kathy had the kids, or late night movies, again, at your apartment. Dinners with the kids, days in the park, but I don't think you ever took me out alone, Stabler. I mean, we got drinks sometimes, but that doesn't count because we always did that." Elliot laughed.

"Maybe that's what happens when you fall in love with your best friend; all the work's already done. But seriously, Liv, if this kinda thing is what you like, we'll do it more often." She smiled.

"I'm just messing with you, Elliot. Besides the fact that our bank account probably couldn't handle us doing it more often, the only thing I need is time with you; it doesn't matter where it is." Their waiter appeared with their food. "Split?" Olivia asked, and Elliot nodded. With an ease that came from years of experience, they both split their meals with each other.

They got drinks and dessert after they finished, since neither one of them had to worry about driving. Elliot picked up his glass once it arrived. "I know we did this a couple weeks ago, but oh well. To three years of marriage, ten years of friendship, and many more of both to come." Olivia smiled, clinking her glass with his.

"Many more."

They were both slightly feeling the effects of the alcohol by the time their cab dropped them off. They'd gone for a walk on the beach before heading back to where they were staying, and it was now late enough that the kids were probably all in bed. Elliot smiled when he got to his and Olivia's bedroom and saw the handmade 'Do Not Disturb' sign taped to the doorknob.

"What are we going to do with them?" he asked her. She smiled.

"How about we not worry about them so much until morning?"

There were two things in life that Rick proclaimed he couldn't live without: soccer and video games. And since some of his favorite video games involved racing, Elliot decided to take him and Ben over to the Daytona Speedway the next day to see what they could see. Olivia, Kathleen and Lizzie were left to have some 'girl time' and soon wound up simply relaxing out on the beach.

"I'm sure you already know this at your ages," Olivia told the girls, "But I'm gonna say it anyway: make sure you've got enough sunscreen on."

"I've learned my lesson," Kathleen told her. They'd gone on a trip to the beach when Ben was a baby and she'd wound up looking like a lobster by the end of the day.

All three looked up when a volleyball landed in the sand only a few feet away from them. A guy about Kathleen's age ran over to retrieve it. "Sorry," he said before rejoining his five other friends around the net. Kathleen just stared as he went.

"Whoa," she finally said. "Shirtless should be the fashion trend in New York, too."

"Trust me," Olivia told her. "I know a lot of guys in New York that you would not want to see shirtless." They all dissolved into giggles.

Elliot, Rick, and Ben had headed for DaytonaUSA for their afternoon of male bonding. There had been a 3D movie playing at the IMAX theater that Rick insisted upon them seeing. Elliot had been worried that Ben would freak out at the loud production, but he'd done fine, and was now sitting atop his father's shoulders as Elliot and Rick walked through the exhibits.

"Hey!" he exclaimed when the little boy grabbed his ears. "Those aren't handles!" Ben giggled and wrapped his arms around Elliot's head, covering his eyes. "Okay, that's it, you little mischief-maker," he said as he swung Ben down and carried him under one arm. "You think we could fit him in one of those tires?" he asked Rick. He pretended to think about it, taking a couple mock hand-measurements of his brother.

"More than likely."

"You wanna go spinning around the racetrack in one of those at two hundred miles per hour?" Elliot asked Ben.

"Yeah!!!" Rick rolled his eyes.

"You get motion sick on carousels, stupid."

"I not stupid!"

"All right, break it up," Elliot told them. "You want to try Acceleration Alley?" he asked Rick, motioning to the simulator ride. He smiled.

"Can I? The line's kinda long." Elliot shrugged.

"We're here, aren't we? What would be the point in not doing the things we want to do?"

"Me, too?" Ben asked.

"I think you're a little small," Elliot told him with a smile. "Live vicariously through your brother." Rick grinned impishly.

"You know, you can get a license to drive a race car before you can get a real license."

"Don't even think about it," Elliot automatically told him.

After dinner that night, the whole family could be found playing mini-golf under the setting sun. Elliot looked up from the shot he was about to make when a chorus of very fake coughs and sneezes came from the four children standing behind him. "Sorry," Kathleen told him with a smile. "Didn't mean to break your concentration." He just shook his head and went back to lining up his shot. Just before he swung at the ball, another sneeze was heard. The ball went wide, missing the space it was supposed to go through. Elliot turned to his wife with a glare.

"I'm sorry," Olivia said with a laugh, holding up her hands in surrender. "It wasn't on purpose, I swear."

"Yeah, right. I think you've all got a conspiracy going to keep me from ever being anything other than last place." Rick shook his head.

"Nah. Ben's finally old enough to play. He's got you beat for last without even trying." Kathleen playfully smacked him upside the head.

"Don't count him out yet," she said as she went back to assisting Lizzie with getting Ben set.

"Hold it like this," Lizzie was telling the little boy, putting her hands over his as she stood behind him. "Pull back," she demonstrated, "And swing." Elliot watched in amazement as the ball went into the tunnel that it was supposed to.

"Nuh-uh," he said. "That was cheating. Let's see him make that shot without you holding the club for him."

"It doesn't say we can't help him," Kathleen sweetly told him, holding up the side of the score card that had the rules.

"That doesn't matter! That thing says that you're not supposed to have more than four people on one team, and do you see anyone listening to that? I want a redo."

"It's like elections," Lizzie told her father. "There are no redos. Come on, sport." Ben just laughed as he headed for the far end of the course with his brother and sisters.

"You see this?" Elliot asked Olivia, mock-incredulous. She was standing to the side, a smile on her face as she took in the scene, and nodded in response.

"Yep." They both watched the kids cheer and shout as they all tried to get their balls in the cup. "I still have trouble believing this is real sometimes," Olivia whispered after a long moment.

"You got any regrets?" he quietly asked. She turned to him, a small smile on her face.

"Yeah." He raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure there have been enough moments like the one we're watching right now." Elliot kissed her forehead.

"We'll spend the rest of our lives making more. I promise you that." Olivia smiled.

"I'm gonna hold you to it."

FIN. For real this time, lol. Thanks for taking the trip with me. I hope you enjoyed it. If you haven't done so already, PLEASE leave me a note on what you thought. And even if you have already done it, what's stopping you from doing it again! :-)