Epilogue

Olivia woke up early on the morning of December 11th, and she knew exactly why. She was smiling before she opened her eyes. Carefully, Olivia crawled out from under the covers and Elliot's arms. Her partner remained deeply asleep, thankfully, as she put on her robe and tiptoed out of her bedroom.

Very carefully, she opened the door to Noah's room and tiptoed in. Thankfully, he was still fast asleep in his crib, hugging the bear that Elliot had given him the first time he'd come over. Unable to resist anymore, Olivia reached down and stroked her boy's head of curling hair. A minute later, Noah stirred and groaned. But when he opened his eyes and saw her, he grinned and reached for her, saying, "Mamamamama!"

Olivia smiled through tears of happiness and lifted him out of the crib. As he happily snuggled against her, Olivia walked around his room, softly speaking to him. "I can't believe you're two years old today, sweet boy. It feels like yesterday I was holding you in my arms for the first time…From that first moment, I knew I would love you forever. I love you, Noah."

"Wuv you, Mama," Noah sang back to her, patting her face with his little hand. Olivia laughed and gave him an eskimo kiss before suddenly bending forward, dipping him and making him screech with laughter. Olivia repeated this until they were both belly-laughing and didn't stop until a third belly laugh from the doorway joined them.

Elliot stood in his own robe, watching them with a warm smile. Olivia and Noah both smiled to see him, but before Olivia could say anything, Noah spoke first.

"Dadadadadada!"

Both adults froze, staring first at Noah then at each other. Elliot looked at Olivia, pleading with her to tell him what to do, but he couldn't hide the elation he felt at Noah's title for him.

Olivia herself felt nothing but a surge of pure warmth flow through her like a wave. So, she turned her gaze to Noah as she walked towards Elliot. "You sweet boy!" she exclaimed as she gave Noah to Elliot. "Giving Elliot a present on your own birthday!"

As he hugged Noah to him, Elliot looked at Olivia with tears in his eyes. "Liv…you know I love him like my own…but are you sure this is ok with you?"

"Yes," said Olivia, and she meant it. "I've known, for a long time, that if I ever had a child, he could have no better father than you." She smiled at him. "He was meant to find you, too, El."

"Liv…" Elliot's voice was thick, choked with emotion. He couldn't bring himself to ask just what she meant, but she understood.

Taking a deep breath, Olivia cupped his cheek. "After the holidays, I want us to start looking at houses, for the four of us. I want to find a home for us. And…eventually…I want that to be official. As in marriage, adoption…all of it, El. I'm not saying that I'm ready for all of that right now, because I'm not, but I trust you. You'll know when I'm ready for that."

At that moment, Noah began squirming and saying, "Eat! Eat! Eat!"

Elliot and Olivia laughed. Wiping the tears from their eyes, they walked into the kitchen. As Elliot settled Noah into his high chair, Olivia went into the kitchen to pull out the ingredients for waffles – Noah's favorite breakfast. When she turned around from the counter, there stood Elliot. For three seconds, they had a full conversation with their eyes.

I love you.

I know. I love you, too.

And I love Noah, like he were mine.

And I love Eli and all of your kids, like they were mine.

I don't deserve you.

I don't care if you don't – I want you and no one else.

You have me.

And you have me.

I will never leave you again.

I know. You're stuck with us.

Ditto.

And then they were kissing, as if it were their first and last time.

The End

A/N: Well, that's the end of this sweet little sequel. I hope you liked it. I have other story ideas that I hope to start working on soon. In the meantime, let's all pray that the real EO finally pull their s*** together.