Influenza

Chapter Twenty Six

Disclaimer: Not my show and not my characters.

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It was Wednesday afternoon, with one hour to go until their short break for Christmas began. Christmas eve was on that coming Friday, then Christmas itself on Saturday. In all truths, Olivia would normally be working the next day, perhaps even on Christmas eve, had it not been for her new relationship with Elliot. In years before, when she had been single, with no family to spend the holiday with, there had been no reason for her not to work. And John usually passed up the days off, so she was never alone.

She had always been jealous, before, of Elliot. He had a large family to go home to, a reason to take off and enjoy the time given. On one occasion, she had dropped by on Christmas day, to give Elliot his gift. Kathy had invited her inside, although she had protested, and she was instantly brought back to her younger years. Christmas at her house had never been something important. Most of the time, her mother was too drunk to even remember to buy a tree. But on one occasion, before her grandmother had passed, Olivia had spent Christmas with the elder woman. It had been magical.

At the time, she had been nine years old. Her mother was busy with something that year, Olivia didn't recall what it was, but her grandmother, who at that time knew she would likely be gone within the year, offered to take her for the holiday, at her home in Connecticut. The flight had been short, paid in full by Donna (her grandma), and when she arrived at the house she had been floored.

The entire lawn was decorated in lights and false snowmen and plastic reindeer, a young child's dream world, as it were. Snow was forecasted for the eve of Christmas, as well as Christmas day itself, and unlike the snows of New York, there was promise that Olivia, then called Livia, would be allowed to play in it.

Her grandmothers house wasn't large by any means, but compared to her mothers two bedroom, one bathroom apartment, it was a castle. Four bedrooms, three baths, and a basement and attic to add on, it had been something out of her wildest dreams. The first time Olivia had ever been out of the city, and the first real home she had ever entered.

Her uncle, her mothers only sibling, although estranged, and his younger kids were also staying with Donna for the holiday. Her cousins, a boy of the age of five, and a girl of almost eight, were the only social contact outside of schoolmates Olivia had ever had. At her young age, still not at grips with her mothers drinking, Olivia was a loner, and had few friends.

The inside of Donna's house was amazing, and Olivia was instantly awestruck. A huge, looming tree stood in a corner of the majestic living room, equipt with large, comfy couches and a big screen TV, done up in snowmen for the occasion. When she walked into the house, Olivia had not wanted to leave the room. Her own living room at home was nearly bare, with one sofa, made of cracked leather, and the TV was small and only produced a black and white picture. It had been something like that of a fairytale, she recalled.

The bedroom that she stayed in had been even more beautiful. She shared it with her cousin, Amanda, and it held in it, two small, twin sized beds. The sheets were pink, the walls covered with butterflies and flowers. In her own room, back in the city, she had white sheets and no color on the walls. This, she decided in the very instant of her arrival, was so much better.

That had been, without a doubt, the best Christmas of her childhood. Less than four months after she returned home, her grandmother died, a victim of the cigarettes she had been addicted to since her Sophomore year in high school. Olivia didn't understand it then, but when she looked back on it, she realized that the only reason her mother had permitted her to go that Christmas was because of her grandmothers condition. Even still, she wasn't sure whether to be thankful that Serena had the compassion to allow her those few days, or upset that it took such a situation for her mother to allow her to leave.

When she entered Elliot's living room, those few years prior, she had been greeted by the smell of turkey in the oven. The kids were scattered about the room, checking out their new toys, laughing and joking with each other, all still in their sleep wear. Kathy had excused herself to finish cooking, and called out for him as she walked to te kitchen. He came down the stairs, dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a black wifebeater, smiling when he saw her. Dickey had immediately run to him upon his arrival, shouting out happily about the game boy he had received, and Elliot had picked him up in his arms, although at 9 the boy was much to old to be carried.

Dickey didn't seem to mind and he clung on to his father tightly, reciting his thanks over and over. After kissing him on the forehead, Elliot let him down, patted him on the rear and sent him back into the living room. It was in that moment, that Olivia realized she would never have what he and Kathy did, and it had effected her so that he noticed, and asked what was wrong.

Nothing, she had replied, with a false smile. After handing him his gift, which was a watch, along with a picture of the two of them along with John and Fin at a NYPD picnic that spring. He had smiled warmly and hugged her chastely, then invited her to stay for an early dinner. She had respectively declined, stating she didn't want to impose, and without letting him pursuade her, left the house, taking one last look at the living room. When she got to her apartment, she pulled out her mothers old address book, found her uncles number, and called him. They talked for awhile, then she asked for Amanda's number. When she called her younger cousin, a male answered, identifying himself as Brad, Amanda's husband.

She talked to Amanda for over an hour. The woman, a little more than a year younger than herself, had three children, ranging from five to nine years old. Two boys and one girl, the girl being the eldest. When Amanda got around to asking about her life, all Olivia could say was her job took up most of her time, prohibiting her from having any real relationship.

They had kept in touch for a few months after that, but then lost each other since then. Olivia wondered how she was doing, it had been nearly four years since they had last talked.

"What'cha thinkin' about?" Elliot inquired, noticing that she had drifted off into her own world.

Looking over at him, still partly lost in her thoughts, she gave him a tight smile, "You remember that one Christmas, when I dropped by your house?" she questioned.

"Yeah. You wouldn't stay for dinner."

She nodded, "I was just thinking about that... strange as it may sound, it made me realize a few things."

"Oh yeah?" he said. "Like what?"

"For one, I had fallen completely out of touch with my uncle and his family. For two, I was doomed to be alone for the rest of my life."

"Looks like you were wrong about that second one." he replied with a grin. "I didn't know that you had an uncle."

"Yeah. My mom's only sibling. He was five years older than she was, they hadn't spoken since he left for college. They had some sort of falling out, I never really knew the full details. He's got a daughter around my age. Amanda... I was thinking about how I haven't spoken to her in awhile."

"You gonna call her?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think I will..."

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"Hello?" a young, male voice answered the phone, after the third ring.

"Hi..." she replied, "this is Olivia Benson, is your mom there?"

Recognizing his mothers maiden name, Matthew called out for his mother, who picked up a phone a few seconds later. "Hello? This is Amanda."

"Amanda," she greeted, "it's Olivia."

"Oh, wow!" the woman said. "Hi, it's been a while, huh?"

"Yeah... it has been. How are you guys doing?"

"We're great, the kids are ready to open all of their gifts, which they're not going to do." The tone of her voice told Olivia that at least one of Amanda's kids were in ear shot, and the groan that she heard afterward confirmed her theory. "What about you?"

A defiant smile was brought to Olivia's lips, "I'm doing good- great even."

"Oh?" she questioned. "Do I detect happiness in your voice?"

"Maybe..." Olivia replied with a smile. "Just a little."

"Does this happiness have anything to do with a member of the male species?"

"It might..."

There was a squeal that caused Olivia to wince, and then a long, fast sentence that was so loud Olivia had to hold her phone from her ear.

"You're gonna have to say that again," Olivia said, laughing slightly. "But slower."

"You met somebody!" she said. "Tell me all of the details."

"Well, I didn't 'meet' him, I've known him for awhile. Years, actually."

"And?"

"You remember me telling you about my partner from work."

"Yeah, why?" she asked. "What's he have anything to–" there was a pause. "Oh Olivia, don't tell me that! He's married."

"Correction," Olivia replied. "He was married. Now, he's divorced."

They talked for more than two hours, talking about the events that had gone on in the last four years. Marissa, Amanda's daughter, had gotten braces, Benjamin, her youngest son, who was now nine, had broken his arm climbing a tree, and Matthew her middle child, who was eleven, was a star soccer player. Olivia told her of some of the major cases she had worked, dumbed down a bit, and the events that had led to her new relationship with Elliot.

"I have to meet his man," Amanda said finally. "He sounds too perfect to be true."

"Trust me," Olivia said with a laugh. "He's nowhere near perfect, he's got a temper, he's impatient–"

"Yeah, but from the way you're talking about him, he's prince charming."

"What about Brad?" she questioned. "He's not a knight in shining armor?"

"Not hardly." Amanda replied, laughing to herself. "But he's close enough for me."

"Well, I've got plenty of vacation time stacked up, if you want to come out to the city or we could come out to Connecticut."

"I'm sure the kids would love to see the Big Apple. They've got spring break in March, maybe we could do something then."

"That sounds good to me."

"Okay, well, we'll have to work the details out later, because I've got to get started on dinner."

"Alright."

"Bye, Livia."

Smiling at the name, which she hadn't been called since she was eleven, Olivia replied, "Goodbye Mandy."

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"So did you call her?" Elliot asked, as they talked on the phone, later that night.

"Yeah. We had a nice conversation. She and her family are going to come out in March to see me..." she paused, "and you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She thinks your Mr. Wonderful or something. I told her she was dead wrong, but she didn't believe me. Guess she has to see for herself."

"Ouch." he replied. "That hurts, Olivia."

"No it doesn't," she told him. "You're ego is too big to be bruised by a non-serious comment like that. And you know it."

"Yeah, well, since I'm dating superwoman, does that mean one day I get to be superman?"

Olivia smiled, "Maybe... if you're lucky."

"Oh, I think I'm pretty damn lucky. I've got you, don't I?"

"I like to think that it's the other way around, and it's I who have you."

"That's because you're way too possessive."

"You know you like it."

"I'd like it more if we had a spot on the naughty list."

Olivia rolled her eyes, "You're still thinking about that, huh?"

"Oh, not just thinking, planning."

"Well, whatever you come up with isn't going to work. Just to let you know."

"I think you're wrong about this one."

"We'll see."

"Yes we will," he replied, and she could hear him smile through the phone. "Tomorrow night."

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A/N: Well, you know what to do! Please, please review! I live (and write) for feedback. The more the better.