Chapter Eleven

A few weeks had gone by and Elliot had invited Liv out to dinner to talk about their relationship.

"Thanks for meeting me," Elliot said, pulling out her chair.

"Yeah of course," Liv said sitting down. "You said you wanted to talk about a few things."

"First thing, Aaliyah… I was given a year to foster her, then determine what I want to do going further."

"So what are your options?"

"Well, either I adopt her, or she gets deported back to Sweden and gets a new foster home. I already have the paperwork and everything to foster her here. Which is the only reason they allowed me to keep being her foster parent."

"What do you want to do?"

"I was hoping you would have an opinion."

"I would say do whatever you think is best for you and her."

"Liv, I think we should adopt her."

"Great. Wait, we?"

"Yeah, Liv. You've been a huge help to me and the kids. Aaliyah already sees you as a mother figure. Actually, all the kids do."

"Elliot—"

"C'mon Liv, why shouldn't we do it? I mean there is no reason not to."

"What about Noah? Where would we even live? It's not like we're married." Elliot got a look on his face. "And don't you dare propose."

"Liv, look. We have something really strong going on right now with whatever this is. And the other night we both made it very clear there is trust and love and it is serious between us."

"You're right, the other night was quite fun. And I hadn't done anything like that in a while."

"See, Liv? What if we move in together, as partners, for now. Adopt Aaliyah, and see what happens."

"I mean we're gonna have to move into a new place."

"Liv, just answer me. We'll figure out the logistics later."

She paused for a moment. "Alright, let's do it. And if it doesn't work out we'll just stay friends, sharing an adoptive child."

~oOo~

The next few months were spent working on all the legal bits regarding the adoption process and Elliot and Olivia found a small house in Long Island City they could rent for now. Once everything was finalized, the family came together again.

"Alright, everyone!" Kathleen said. "A toast! To our new adoptive sister, Aaliyah, our step-brother Noah, and hopefully soon-to-be step-mother Liv."

Everyone clapped and cheered.

"Don't push it," Elliot said to Kathleen.

The whole Benson-Stabler clan was delighted that everything was finally coming together. Olivia could hardly believe she was finally part of a big family. Not in her wildest dreams, would she have thought that that family would be with the Stablers.