Chapter Fifteen

February 14, 2006.

12: 44 P.M.

Today was the day. Elliot had practically waited his whole life for a day like this. It was going to be perfect. It was not perfect with Kathy. Nothing was perfect with him and Kathy. This was him and Olivia. This was right. It felt right.

Valentine's Day 2006. Elliot smiled as he thought of it. He wished it was evening already. Alas, it was not. It was only noon. His Olivia was sitting at her desk. She had the George case file in front of her. She had been staring at it for the past half hour without moving. Elliot doubted she was actually focused on the case.

He did not care. He was not either. The ring was in his pocket. Large, beautiful. His Olivia deserved the best. He let out a sigh and then commanded himself to get back to work. The faster he got to work, the faster he would get the work done, and the faster he could leave. It was a perfect plan.

He glanced at the clock on his desk. Twelve forty-seven. The reservations were for seven. He had a little more than six hours. Everything was already planned out. He knew what tux, shirt, tie, shoes, everything that he was going to wear. Although he had a parking spot in the parking garage to Olivia's building, he would actually go back to his own place to give her time to get ready. Then he would pick her up. They were going to have a real date. The perfect real date.

He could not wait.

5: 31 P.M.

Elliot glanced through the door at Olivia. Olivia was asleep at her desk. Her arms were folded on top of it where they acted as a makeshift pillow. She was so sweet, Elliot thought. He hated the thought of waking her. But he could not let her sleep. He had to make sure they had enough time to get ready to make their reservations.

"God, do you want me to be the bitch and wake her?" Casey asked at Elliot's hesitance to enter the squad room.

"Would you?" Elliot asked hopefully. He knew that Olivia could not get mad with Casey. Casey was her ride home.

Casey rolled her eyes. "Only because she's my best friend and you want everything on the night of her engagement to be perfect," she responded as she pushed the door open. She walked over to Olivia and gently rubbed the detective's shoulders. "Hey, Liv," she whispered. "Rise and shine. You've got a big date tonight."

Olivia grumbled something incoherently. She opened one eye and looked at Casey. "Can't I go on a date tomorrow night?" she whined.

Casey shook her head as she tried to pull Olivia up from her chair. With the baby weight, it was not as easy. "Olivia," she started as she continued pulling her friend up, "it's the most romantic night of the year. You have a date. Be happy, be grateful, and embrace it." She finally succeed in getting Olivia in a sitting position at her desk. "Besides, it will mean a lot to Elliot, and therefore, a lot to you." She smiled as she spun Olivia's chair around. "Trust me."

"Do you know something I don't, Counselor?" Olivia asked as she rose from her desk. She took the case papers and held them in front of her stomach, almost as if she was hiding the fact that she was pregnant.

Casey rolled her eyes. "Liv, why do you always do that?" she asked. "We all know you're pregnant. You're not fooling anyone." She refused to acknowledge Olivia's question. She wanted to. It was exciting, and she could not be happier for them, but Elliot had sworn her to secrecy. She had to respect that. She sighed. "Come on. We have a little over an hour to get you ready for the best date of your life."

7:12 P.M.

They were at the restaurant. Olivia was craving Chinese food, so Elliot took her to the best Chinese restaurant in the city. It was Olivia's favorite, so she already knew how expensive it was. It only proved to her how much Elliot really cared. He was always making her as happy as he could.

He gazed across the table at her. Olivia was sipping her water. She was dressed in an elaborate red dress. Her hair was pulled back into some sort of nice hairdo. He did not know what the technical term was, but she looked hot. She was radiant. He simply smiled at her.

Olivia looked up from her water. "What are you staring at?" she asked curiously.

"You," Elliot answered lovingly.

"Why?" Olivia asked. "Do I have food in my teeth? Do you think I'm fat? I'm not fat. I'm pregnant," she argued.

Elliot raised an eyebrow at her. "Calm down," he assured her. "You're perfect."

Olivia took another sip of water. "Thanks," she replied. "And, I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me."

"I do," he told her. "You're pregnant. It's a scary world out there." He took her hand and rubbed it gently. "You don't know what there is to expect. I know you're new at this, so you wouldn't be expected to know. Now I've been by your side for the past couple months," he said. "And I will continue to help you as often as you need it."

He sighed lovingly. His free left hand extended down to his pocket. He grasped the jewelry box containing the ring. "But Liv, that's not what I want. I love you. I want to be with you. I want to watch this child grow."

He took in a deep breath as he pulled the box out of his pocket and flipped it open. "I want to marry you, Olivia." He smiled and grasped her hand. "Olivia Grace Benson, will you marry me?"

((Author's Note: Sorry it's kind of short, but the chapter had to end there, and I didn't know what else to put in it. I didn't want a bunch of filler babble...But I had to make fun of how poorly NBC is hiding Mariska's pregnancy...On a kind of story-related note (well, more author-related note), I'm like two points away from failing history, which is not good. So I have to spend more time studying, and whatever. I'll try to have the next chapter by the end of the week/beginning of the weekend, but I'm not making promises. History test Thursday. Wish me luck. You're the best.))