As soon as the squad room is cleared, save for her, the captain, Munch, Fin, her partner, and his children, a loud rendition of 'Happy Birthday' fills the area. And as soon as it's done, the candles are blown out, and the cake is cut. She catches her partner's eye for a split second but one of his kids has tapped on his shoulder and the link between them has been broken.
It hardly matters. Once everyone is eating and talking…laughing, even, she catches his eye again. And he's smiling. It is something that she hasn't seen in a long wile, and she's glad for it.
Time passes by much too quickly in this instance, and soon his kids are packing up and heading back home to Queens. And the squad room is back to normal.
But as soon as Munch and Fin aren't looking, he reaches out and touches her shoulder. And the look he's wearing tells her everything.
A/N: Yeah. Kinda late. I know. But oh, well. LOSVU is not mine, as you fine people should already know...