Influenza

Epilogue!

Authors Note: Okay, so I was asked who Olivia was meeting at the airport, and the answer is, if you remember, from a couple of chapters back, around Christmas time, she had called a cousin of hers, Amanda. That is who she was waiting for, Amanda and her family.On a different note, wow! 405 reviews. That makes me tremendously happy. This story has gone so much farther than I thought it would, and I am so glad you guys liked it! Thanks for all the reviews, it keeps me going. You guys rock.

For the ones that have mentioned me continuing with other SVU stories, don't worry! As of the moment, I've got a brainchild. Hopefully it won't be long before the first chapter of it is out, but I'm not going to say anything other than that. I'll let'cha think a bit.

Anyway, I'm going to end this way long authors note and start with the epilogue.

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It was early in the morning, the lack of light streaming in through the window was proof enough of that, and the clock besides the bed stating "4:21" just confirmed that notion. She groaned to herself, rolling over in the still unfamiliar King sized bed. Though asleep, he sensed the movement and laid a hand over her stomach, pulling her close to him. Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes, hoping to get a few more hours of sleep.

When they opened again, it seemed to be mid morning. There was light, but it wasn't too bright and he was still lying in bed with her. Their alarm had been set for 15 until 9, so either it was before then, or she had slept through the alarm and he had turned it off. Opening her eyes, she glanced around the near barren room. Boxes lined the walls, and dressers stood at odd angles, still waiting to be moved to their permanent positions. The joys of moving, she thought to herself, and realized that, oddly enough, she had never really moved before.

It had been almost two months since Amanda's visit. They wouldn't have waited so long, but her lease was almost up on the apartment, and they figured it'd be best to just wait it out instead of paying extra, like he was going to have to do. Since he hadn't even lived in his for more than a year he really didn't have any attachments to the place, but Olivia felt awkward leaving the place she had spent so much of her life in.

Their new apartment was a good size, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The living room and kitchen were smaller, but that wouldn't be much of a problem. As it was, they normally ate out anyway, and they never really had time to watch TV or do things like that.

She turned over in the bed and looked at the sleeping man next to her. His forehead was creased and his brow furrowed and she wondered if he was having a bad dream. It was time to wake him up anyway, she decided, and she ran her fingertips over his jaw line lightly. The sensation took him from his sleep and he smiled groggily at her, "Morning," she greeted, kissing him softly.

"Good morning," he replied, sitting up in the bed and stretching out his arms. "What time is it?"

She glanced over at the clock, "Just after 8:30..."

He nodded, yawning, "You want something for breakfast before we start on the room?"

They had finished the bathrooms, kitchen and living room already, Dickey was in charge of his own room and the same thing with the girls. Elliot had moved the heavy things for them first, put them where they wanted them to go, and the rest was their choice.

Nodding, she slid out of the bed and pulled on her robe. The kids weren't there that day, but just in case, she didn't want to give them on an eyeful, though she had on a T shirt. He followed her out of the room, not bothering to put anything on, since he was already wearing boxers.

"Pancakes?" he questioned, heading into the kitchen, which was open to the living room, separated by a bar.

"Sure," she replied, sitting down on the couch and turning the TV to the news. She watched idly while he cooked, paying half attention to it, while at the same time focusing on the day ahead of her. It probably wouldn't take long to unpack everything in the bedroom, and they were already one forth of the way done. When that was finished, the apartment would be finished. They had plans for dinner that night, at a Italian restaurant that had opened up a few months prior, and then the next morning the kids would be dropped off by Kathy to spend the weekend with their father.

"Olivia?" he asked, looking through the empty space between kitchen and living room, "you still with me here?"

She smiled sheepishly by the fact that she had been caught daydreaming, and nodded. "Is breakfast done already?"

He nodded and she left the couch for the kitchen, where she got some pancakes and followed him to the dining room to eat. They finished their breakfast quickly, and then tackled the bedroom, which took over five hours to finally finish. After they had, they showered and got ready for the rest of the day. It was nearing May, and consequently bringing Kathleen's 18th birthday along with it.

Determined to find the right gift, they shopped for three hours, in eight different stores, only coming out with some clothes from Hollister and jewelry and other small gifts. Deciding they'd wait until they asked her what she wanted to get the big gift, which Elliot already had an idea was going to be lots of money, they went back to the apartment and got ready for dinner.

Dinner was satisfactory, but they both decided it wasn't as good as everyone was making it out to be. Sure, they'd come back a few times, but it wouldn't turn out to be somewhere they went at least once a month. The food was good, buy they were more of a pizza and take out kind of couple anyway.

As it neared midnight, Olivia was beginning to feel tired. She was laying on the couch, her head lying on his thighs, watching TV, something they rarely had the chance for. "This is nice," she mused, sitting up to look at him. "Being alone."

He smiled, there was seldom a day that they had completely to themselves. They had gotten the day of luckily, and the kids were with their mother, and they had had no interruptions. Lately, Munch and Fin had been coming over to check out the new place as it progressed, but they had known of the dinner date, so had decided to give the couple a day to themselves.

"Yeah," he agreed, "and the kids are going to be here bright and early."

Olivia nodded, she didn't care that they were going to be there, she loved the kids and was thankful for every minutes she spent with them. Kathleen and Maureen's accident had scared her more than she let on, since she had to be there for Elliot while they were at the hosptial, she couldn't break down or show worry while he was in the state he had been in. "You know that I like them to come over right?" she asked, just to be sure.

"Of course I do," he replied, "and they love that you're gonna always be here now."

"Really?"

He nodded, kissing her lightly. "Elizabeth told me the other day... that if she had to choose the perfect person for me to fall in love with, outside of her mother, of course, it would have been you from day one."

She grinned, snuggling up closely to him, and allowing him to drape his arm around her shoulders, and kiss her on the forehead.

Oh yeah, this was definitely nice.

AAAHHH-CHOOO!

Uh oh.

XXXX

A/N: And that's wrap. So this story doesn't have a marriage or proposal, or babies or anything, but it was never meant to. This is the beginning stages of their relationship, if I do do a sequel, that will follow them through the engagement and marriage and possibly baby era. So then, tell me what you thought of it.