Prompt #27: "I got everything I wanted this year."

Thank you to Ashley (Bensler_Love) on Twitter for the prompt they submitted.

Thank you to WriterKC for beta reading it!

~EO~

"If you make a wish and if you keep on making the same wish, it will be granted.
That's how strong human wishes are."
- CLAMP

She learned early on that the holidays were nothing to celebrate. They were usually filled with disappointment. Her mother out getting drunk somewhere, leaving her home alone. Usually watching Christmas movies, eating takeout she bought with whatever money her mother managed to leave her.

Wishing things were different.

Wishing for once her mother would be sober.

Wishing that for at least one day, she could be like the families she watched on TV.

As she grew older, the holidays became a bit more bearable, but still, not something she ever looked forward to.

Once she joined SVU and partnered with Elliot, holidays became a bit brighter. She still didn't celebrate, except for the yearly holiday party the NYPD threw. But when Stabler would come in on December 26th, telling her of his kids opening up their gifts, the reaction on their face, she would have hope. Hope for the future, and hope that not everything in the world was tainted, that there was still some joy out there.

When Stabler left, things turned bleak again. Nothing was the same after that. It was like half of her was missing. She felt like Dorothy did, ripped from her home with no road map to find her way back.

As the years passed, she went through some absolutely horrific things.

But after, came some pretty amazing things.

She always felt like something was missing. It was something she tried to never let herself dream about for fear of her hopes being crushed.

A family.

She finally had her family.

Getting to adopt Noah was a dream come true. After all the failed relationships, and rejections from the adoption agencies, she had a son. A child to call hers, someone who she loved unconditionally, who loved her right back.

It was amazing, seeing how much her son, Noah had grown as the years flew by. Watching him go from this adorable little baby to the rambunctious young boy he was today, full of energy and a zest for life.

As he grew up over the years, things changed. Her rise to captain of SVU, Elliot coming back into her life, and her finding a makeshift family with her squad, both old and new.

Unexpected things happened as well. Moving from friends to more than friends with Elliot. The two of them eventually married in January 2023.

The biggest surprise of all, happened only a month into their marriage.

During the course of a case, Elliot found a little three-year-old girl, named Ava. Knowing how the system was around that time of the year, and knowing Olivia was a registered foster parent, they took her in until they could find her family.

After a long search, reaching out to everyone possible, no family was found. By that time, she became inseparable from the family. After having thorough talks with their family, they decided to petition to adopt her.

So, on October 18th, 2023, Ava officially became Ava Marie Benson-Stabler.

In the year 2023, her family was complete. Well… almost.

~EO~

December 25, 2023

Grabbing the final tray from the kitchen island, she brought it over to the table, placing it in the center.

"Everyone wash up for lunch," Olivia called out, as she went to the fridge, grabbing drinks for the younger kids, as the others poured themselves some coffee.

Going back to the table, she saw someone missing. Moving towards the living room, she called out, "Noah Benson-Stabler. Come and eat. You can play with your new Switch game later.".

Seeing him turn the game off, she waited for him to follow her, both going to sit down at the table. She grabbed the bowl from Eli on her right, serving herself and Ava before passing the bowl to Bernie.

"Dad, when are we going to open the rest of our gifts?" Noah asked, in between bites, as his parents took turns making sure his younger sister was eating.

"Right after lunch, when Kathleen gets back here. She had to go pick up something last minute."

"What did she have to get?"

"Don't worry about it. You will see it when she gets here."

~EO~

Later, after lunch, everyone was spread out over the living room, and a mixture of conversations was taking place. Hearing the doorbell, Elliot and Olivia got up to answer it.

Opening the door, they saw Kathleen holding a wrapped box with holes all over and a big bow.

"Merry Christmas! Special delivery," Kathleen said, smiling, waiting in anticipation for her siblings to open their gift.

Smiling, Elliot let her in, carefully grabbing the box from her so she could take her coat off.

"Thank you so much, Kathleen. You have no idea how much we appreciate this," Olivia said, grabbing Kathleen's jacket, dusting the snow off it before hanging it up.

"It's not a problem. The place was on my way here anyway. Besides, I can't wait to see Ava and Noah's faces."

"We can't wait either. Not even Eli knows about this, although he did hint about it when Ava and Noah started asking," Olivia said, walking with them to the living room.

Seeing Kathleen walk in, everyone got up and greeted her, before all going back to their seats.

Ava, seeing the box, walked over to her parents, who were now sitting on the love seat together. She tapped Elliot on the leg, before pointing to the box. "What's in box?"

Elliot and Olivia leaned forward, as Olivia asked Noah and Eli to come to stand by their sister.

"This, Ava, is a Christmas gift for you and your brothers. Who wants to open it?" Olivia asked as she placed the box gently on the floor.

"ME! I open it!" Ava yelled, quickly grabbing the box, ripping into the paper around the bow before anyone could say anything.

Laughing, they watched Ava continue to rip the paper, as Noah went to sit next to her on the floor. He began taking the bow off, as Eli took his phone out to record them, chuckling at the situation.

Finally getting all the paper off, Ava and Noah grabbed the top of the box, opening it.

"A puppy!"

"We got a puppy!"

"This is so cool!" Ava, Noah, and Eli all said at the same time.

Noah took the puppy out of the box, putting him on the floor in front of them, as Ava hugged it.

"What's his name? Is he potty trained?" Bernie asked as she watched Ava petting the puppy.

"His name is Ace and yes he is, Mama. The kids wanted him, so it is their responsibility. You all understand me?"

The kids nodded, as they sat back down, beginning to play with Ace.

"Alright, everyone else, you can start opening gifts now," Olivia said as she and Elliot leaned back in their chair, curling up together.

Everyone started towards the gifts, giving them out and beginning to open them. Ava, seeing that Ace was enjoying all the paper flying, grabbed a big piece, and began to run around the room, Ace chasing after her.

Elliot laughed at the sight, putting his arm around Olivia, as he turned to look at her.

"Are you okay, Liv?" Elliot asked, seeing her lost in thought. Watching her play with the Semper Fi medallion around her neck, that he gave her on their wedding day.

Looking at everyone ripping into their gifts, the adults acting more Noah's age than anything, she realized she was. For the first time in her life, everything was okay.

"Yeah, you know what? I am. I realized something," she said as she laced her fingers through his their hands resting on his knee.

"Really? What did you realize?"

"I got everything I wanted this year."

Her family was complete.

She leaned into him, closing her eyes, soaking in the noise, hoping to keep this feeling forever.

Comfortable.

Safe.

Secure.

Happy.

For the first time in her life.

Her wish came true.