Influenza

Chapter Twenty Seven

Disclaimer: The show and the characters are property of Dick Wolf, not me. You want to use anything, ask him, I don't have any claim on it. And I don't make a profit off of this, I have to work for my money. Blah.

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He was in the living room, putting the finishing touches on the trees and making sure all of the gifts were in separate piles, with their respective stockings sticking out in front of the three stacks. The stockings were the key to everything. With big, bold, blue lettering on the fuzzy white tip, it told the owner of said object where his or her presents were located. Moreover, stockings were always opened first in the Stabler family. Filled with candy and fairly useless objects, such as make-up or CD's, they were the least-expensive, therefore, the least important.

His kids were due in any minute, and Olivia not long after that. She had shied away when he invited her to be there when they were dropped off, not sure she wanted to intrude on that part of their holiday, and really sure Kathy held a grudge against her, although the woman did no such thing. Instead, she had opted to arrive around half an hour later, giving the kids enough time to unwrap the presents their father bought them. She then would give them the things that she got for them, hoping they wouldn't hate any of it too much.

Looking at his watch, he figured they were maybe five minutes or so from arriving. Everything was ready and in order, so he sat down on the couch to catch his breath. His break didn't last long, because only a minute or so later, there was the sound of a key in the lock, then the turning of the door knob and the door itself open. Strange that they hadn't needed to have him buzz them in.

Dickey and Elizabeth immeadietly made a mad dash for their presents, almost bypassing the stockings before their father instructed them to slow down and open them first. They groaned a bit, sore that they were still made to follow the tradition, and knowing their mother would make them do the same the next morning, but went for the stockings all the same. Kathleen smiled, hugging her father close, and wishing him a Merry Christmas Eve. She then went to join her sister and brother, allowing her mother and father time to chat. Even though neither really wanted to.

"Hi," Kathy greeted, looking over at her children with a loving smile. "How long are you wanting to keep them for?"

"Well," he replied with a sigh, "I'd like to keep them here all night, but I was guessing about two hours, so they can get home and into bed by eleven."

She nodded, looking around the living room, "Where's Olivia?"

Knowing she would bring up the subject, he merely smiled, "On her way. She wanted to give me some time alone with the kids before coming over."

"Oh," Kathy said. "That's very thoughtful of her."

"How's Ben?"

There was a momentary frown that passed over Kathy's face, but as soon as it had appeared it was gone, and Elliot got the impression she had been attempting to hide it from him. "He's great, spending the evening with his daughter, actually. She's a year younger than Kathleen, they seem to be getting along fine... Nikki, is her name. He's coming over for early dinner tomorrow. You'd like him, if you met him. He was in the Army, retired at 40."

"How old is he now?" Elliot asked.

"Forty two. Owns a restaurant down the street from mom's house. Kathleen's getting a job there."

"That's nice."

She nodded, looking back at the kids, and addressing them, "I'll be back in a couple of hours. Don't make too much of a mess around here, alright? If you do, you're staying until it's clean and going straight to bed when you get home."

Home. Elliot thought. This should be there home.

"Have fun," Kathy said to Elliot with another slight smile. "I'll see you later. Tell Olivia I said hello."

"You can tell her yourself when you pick up the kids."

"Oh," she replied. "Of course. I didn't think about that. Bye, Elliot."

It struck him then that she hadn't called him 'El' since the divorce. Not that it bothered him. Now the only person who did call him by that nickname was Olivia, and he was glad it was reserved simply for her. "Goodbye, Kathy."

He wasn't going to call her 'Kath'. Who knew, maybe that nickname was reserved for only Ben now.

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"Wow," Kathleen said in surprise when she opened the ring box. Having already opened her smaller presents, which included gift cards from various stores, and some CD's she had asked for, this was nothing like she had expected. "It's beautiful dad."

"I'm glad you like it."

There was a squeal of surprise from Elizabeth's end when she opened her present, "It holds 6 CD's!" she exclaimed. "Than you daddy!"

He smiled and looked over at Dickey, who was busy reading the info on the backs of his games. "What about you, son?"

"They're great, dad..." he said, a bit confused. "But I have a PS2... not an X-box."

Elliot winced, knowing that Kathy was going to wait until the next morning for him to see the X-box, even though Elliot had bought him games. "I know, Dickey. You have to be surprised in the morning when you open up the X-box at your grandma's place, alright?"

His face lit up, "Sure!"

The buzzer went off around that time, and Elliot pulled himself up from his comfortable spot on the couch to answer it. Not surprisingly, it was Olivia. He buzzed her in, and went back to his seat. She had a key, so he wouldn't have to wait for her to let her in. She could just do so herself.

"Are you ready to open your gifts now, dad?" Elizabeth asked, looking at the CD's she had gotten in her stocking.

"Yeah," he replied. "In just a second. Let's wait for Olivia."

The kids nodded in agreement, and there was a short silence while they looked over their gifts once again. They would get more in the morning, so they weren't worried about how few things they had received, no matter how selfish that may have sounded. A few moments later, the door opened and Olivia came walking through, holding a few paper bags in her arms. "Can somebody help me with these?" she asked, looking pointedly at Elliot. He got off of the couch and took one from her arms, leaving her with the other.

"Set these down here by the tree," he told her, walking over to the spot where they should go. "The kids want me to open my gifts now."

She nodded and followed him, leaving her bag next to the one he had, then heading to the couch and taking a seat next to him. The kids then gave him their gifts, the normal kid things, clothes. They had also all chipped in, and this was a surprise to Olivia, and bought him a weekend stay at a B&B... for two. It was at a place inland, but not too far away that they wouldn't be able to make the trip. Olivia looked at it sheepishly, suddenly positive she would have to talk with Kathleen about what the girl thought.

While they turned back to their gifts, Elliot leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Don't worry, you'll be on the naughty list a plenty of times before then."

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It was just after ten o'clock when Kathy arrived to pick up the kids. Olivia stood in the middle of the living room, feeling out of place as the five talked about the gifts the children have got– and Dickey let it slip that he knew about the X-box, Kathy was not shocked– and their excitement for the next morning. When Kathleen mentioned the sweater Olivia had bought her, Kathy looked over at her, a bit surprised.

"You didn't have to get them anything," she said, as a sort of afterthought.

Olivia smiled at the kids, "I know, but I wanted to."

Kathy nodded, turning back to her children, "Well, we should start for home. Traffic is crazy out there, and we've got to get back to the house before eleven or your grandmother will have a heart attack."

They said their goodbyes and hugged their father, and Elizabeth even hugged Olivia, while the other two just said goodbye and thank you, then they left. Olivia was slightly surprised at the non hostile manner in which Kathy treated her, she had expected the woman to be cold and unforgiving. For what she needed forgiveness for, Olivia hadn't figured out, because she had done nothing. Then again, Elliot had spoken of Kathy's acceptance of their relationship– but Olivia had figured it was all an act, to keep him from knowing that Kathy still cared for him. More than Elliot did for her.

"Finally," Elliot joked with a smile, "we're alone." He winked, as he took her in his arms, "You know what that means?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, "No... but I guess that means you're gonna be telling me, huh?"

He nodded, with a grin, and said, "I get to open my presents."

"You think?" she asked, with a smile of her own. "But no. You can open them in the morning, like all the other good little boys and girls do."

He scrunched up his face, as a child would, "That's not fair."

"Neither is surrounding me with your ex-wife." she mumbled.

He sighed, "That wasn't a choice, Liv. I couldn't just tell her she couldn't come in because you're still uncomfortable around her."

"I know," she replied, "it's just I feel like an outsider when you guys are all together. Like I'm missing out on the most important part of your life, and it bothers me."

"Look at me," he commanded, so she did. "I love you, and because of that, you'll never, ever be let out on any part of my life. Okay?"

She nodded, "Alright."

"So I don't even get to open one thing?" he questioned, letting her out of his arms.

Rolling her eyes, she sighed in defeat, "Fine. One thing."

"Good." he said with a grin. " Then, I pick you."

Giving him a look that plainly said she wasn't an option, Olivia went over to the bag she had left. In it contained his gifts for the next morning. She grabbed the smallest box, and handed it to him, "I know it's kind of an impersonal gift and all, but you said you needed one–"

He opened the box, and smiled, "You're right," he said, taking out the watch, "I did. This is really nice." He put it on, "I'll have to make sure not to beat it up like I do all the others."

"You'd better." she said sternly. "Now can I open something?"

"Sure." he said. "You can open me." A grin spread over his face, telling her of his intentions, as if she hadn't already known.

"Something other than that." she said with a sigh.

"You're no fun," he pouted, taking out a long, thin box and handing it to her. "I know you said you didn't want any..."

She opened the box, and nearly gasped. Inside was a string of small, creamy-white pearls, "Oh... wow."

"Do you like them?" he questioned.

"Are you kidding?" she asked, looking up at him surprised. "They're beautiful."

He let out a sigh of relief. "I know how you normally feel about jewelry, but I saw these, and... I thought they'd look perfect on you." He smiled, "You wanna try them on?"

"Yeah, sure," she told him with a nod. He took the necklace from her hands and stood behind her, clasping the necklace in the back, then kissing her neck, just above where the pearls rested. She shivered from the sensation, and fingered the necklace. "These are wonderful," she told him once again. "Thank you."

"Go look in the mirror," he told her, nodding towards the mirror hanging on the wall. She did so, and was a bit taken at how perfectly they fit and the simple beauty of the pearls. "I don't think I've ever owned something this beautiful." she told Elliot, turning around to face him.

"I figured so," he replied. "You really like them, right?"

"Of course I do." she reassured him, turning back and looking at herself in the mirror. "I just don't think I have anything to wear with them."

The devious grin had returned, and Olivia felt a chill pass down her spine, "Who said anything about wearing them with clothes?"

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A/N: Well... it's kind of a cliffhanger. You have to wait some more to see about the naughty list, anyway. But, aside from that, please review! And, I'm sorry about the wait, I was out of town for a couple of days and didn't get a chance to do any writing, and I've got to work every day this week. Blah. But hey, I need money. So... review, please. You should all know by now, lots of feedback means quicker updates!