When Kathleen or any of his kids call Olivia, she always, always automatically picks up or tries to text back as promptly as possible. The second eldest Stabler, the glue and the voice of reason and calmness, is Kathleen, without a doubt, which would have been surprising to her maybe 10 to 12 years ago.

But everything, and just about everyone, has changed, which time seems to do. Kathleen reached out to Olivia when her father was in need of intervening, but now Olivia was being called upon for other reasons.

A fruit tray.

This Saturday, she and Noah are invited to an impromptu housewarming for Maureen and her partner to celebrate the purchase of a new loft they planned to renovate with Dickie and Elizabeth's help.

It was only one day's notice, but it gave Olivia enough time after work to shower, change and get Noah ready before stopping to grab fruit and a bottle of wine for the gathering. Her son was just excited to be out after a year of curfews and restrictions, but he also took to the youngest Stabler when they attended functions together.

This time, it's in a backyard in Brooklyn with paper plates, beers, and a brand new sofa still wrapped in the moving plastic on the patio outside. Elliot even managed to pack up a couple coolers though he insists he was somehow the last to find out that his kids were meeting at Maureen's new property and had invited Liv and Noah.

He's in a plain white t-shirt and pair of army cargo shorts with sneakers. He couldn't look more like a dad, even if it is a really, really hot one, she thinks briefly. One that she never ever stumbled upon in all her years at the park. Elliot happened to be more bold and obvious than her, but she wasn't blind. She just played it closer to the vest.

—-

The minute Elliot sees her in the yard in a loose floral dress with a thin belt around her waist, his eyes can't hide what he's been feeling so strongly lately. Something he's held at bay and tucked away; something that shows how attracted he is to her, and that it goes far beyond the admittance of her beauty and the pull she has over him. It's now so far past that, and he has to physically do something about it.

He told her he loves her, and he really wants to earn her trust again, to make her happy, but they haven't moved past friends. He wants that and plans on slowly easing her into the idea of it one day, but he doesn't necessarily plan past that. On most days, he is totally satisfied just being her friend again. He is grateful for just that but yearns for more.

For the chance to make her feel the magic she deserves; to love her and appreciate her, to worship her for being so seductive and alluring to every neuron in his body. She takes his breath away like this.

—-

Her son walks in close behind her carrying a box of desserts in one hand and the wine in the other. Olivia opts to carry the large tray, as it would have been a more questionable move than letting her kid carry the wine, she tells Maureen with a laugh and a hug when she gets to the side of the backyard.

"The house is gutted inside, but come in and enjoy our yard! Liv, this is Shelly, and Shell, this is Liv. She's my dad's partner, and this is her son, Noah," Maureen announces. Maureen, then Shelly, shake their hands before showing them the large backyard of their near property.

As the months, and now years go on, the definition of partner has changed with him, but it's all the same. A connection, the building of two people for one greater mission or common goal. An ally, a friend, a collaborator but also a companion, a spouse...a wife. A partnership between them now means family.

"You two have it made here! Look at this ..it's stunning. Congratulations!" Olivia says to the happy couple, excited for the new chapter that is starting for them. Noah runs off to see Eli who's playing with a ball at other end of the yard before Kathleen greets her with an enthusiastic hug

"The inside, not so much, but we will be the backyard party hosts no problem in the meantime," Maureen says with pride, as the rest of the family settles in and spreads out.

Olivia loves being around his family, and Noah does, too. He is finally surrounded by something she was never able to provide for him nor ever experienced herself.

—-

Eli goes inside to help Dickie carry in a piece of furniture, and Noah goes over to Kathleen who is setting up the table, while their parents talk on the other end of the patio.

Kathleen wonders wordlessly if anyone else here understands how rare and insane it is that their dad and Olivia are even back together in the same vicinity and how she hasn't seen her dad this calm in a very long time.

She knew her dad was loyal and loving always to her mother, but what the other Stablers didn't know were the tears and pain her mother disclosed to her. That she fell deeply out of love in the same speed she fell in it, but her loyalty and admiration for keeping them all a family overrode any emotional detachment she had.

High school sweethearts that fell out of love long before middle age, her mother had said to her in confidence, but then there was Italy.

They started over and tried again and it did work, for quite some time, that is. There were so many hurdles and a whole new way of life that they had to adjust to with Eli. The language, the culture, the time change, the climate, his career - there was no other soul tying him down to a city that had long drained his wife. It changed everything, and while it never made them fall back in love, it was a loving and happy final chapter for them.

Kathleen also spoke to her mom in private before her siblings arrived a few days before everything changed.

Kathy confided in her that she just wanted them all to be happy. Kathleen stopped her from continuing, not liking the tone of where this was going, but Kathy persisted.

"I want your dad to fall back in love. He's going to need help, patience…and forgiveness…You will all be okay," she whispered softly before smiling and going back into a restful state.

"It will all be okay," she had echoed in her head as she held her mom's hand, and she still holds onto that promise she silently made Kathy that day in the hospital.

But now it's Olivia's son asking about her mom and something she never ever considered.

"Kathleen…can I ask you something that's probably kinda stupid?"

Kathleen stops placing the utensils and looks over at Noah sitting down on the wooden bench beside the table.

"No such thing as a stupid question, but shoot..I've got lots of practice from Dickie." She smiles and takes a seat next to him.

"Would your mom be mad that we are here and always with you guys now?"

His question knocks the words out of Kathleen for a moment.

"Noah, what do you mean? What makes you say that? She would not be mad…"

"Mason in my dance class says that his stepmom replaced his old mom, and he hates her. I don't want you guys to hate us."

It makes Kathleen tear up and smile.

"No, not at all. This is nothing like your friend Mason's family, okay? Did you know that your mom and my dad were best friends back when I was your age, maybe even younger..."

Noah looks lost as he looks at her, then over at their parents.

"But you are so old now…"

She can't help but laugh and agree, too. Kathleen, more than any of the other Stabler children, is closest to not only Olivia, but to her father, too, in recent years. It's taken time, but she understands it all now. She hopes the others do and she thinks they do, too.

"Yes, I am, but that actually just shows you how long they have been best friends and loved each other. Did you know that my mom knew that, too? Your mom even saved my mom's life before…"

Kathleen didn't intend on getting deep with Olivia's adolescent son, but there are no secrets in their family, not anymore.

"Dude, what about me?" Noah plops down beside Kathleen with a thud on the swinging two-seat lawn lounger across from Noah. "Your mom helped deliver me when I was born, isn't that cool?" Eli chimes in, as he goes to grab the soccer ball across the lawn and brings it back. "So we could almost be brothers," he says as he kicks the ball at Noah. He throws the ball back towards Eli's face, and the two laugh as it just misses his cheek.

"Yes, your mom and my mom were in a horrible car accident when my mom was pregnant with Eli. Your mom saved both of them. My mom used to have bad dreams about it and then pray how thankful she was for your mom…she told me that before. Did you know any of that?"

"My mom never talked about it to me. I walked in on her crying sometimes and found Elliot's picture before…"

Kathleen wants to cry, but smiles and looks over at Olivia, the woman that has loved so deeply from afar. She isn't sad, but she is getting verification of so much that was once kept guarded up so tight.

The woman that saved her family and would go on and try to save the world just couldn't save herself from heartbreak. Something, as a woman, she knows all too well. That Olivia and her father never crossed a line, but silently and respectfully loved each other from afar. She can't do this now. She doesn't want Liv or her dad to see, but she thinks their sons should know.

"My mom loved your mom, Noah, and respected her so much. She would be thankful Liv's here with us now. She's always been like a mom to me. A godmother, sort of... someone sent here on Earth to watch over you and love you like a mom… like God sent them specifically,"

"Do you ever want to call her mom?" Noah says, as watches Eli get up and run to Dickie who just arrived out back, his arms filled with boxes of pizza.

Kathleen smiles at how inquisitive this kid is, just like his mother.

"Sometimes I do. I have thought of Olivia as a second mom. When I was getting in trouble when I was younger, she loved me…like a mom." Kathleen knows where this is going. She can see it working in his head, and the contemplation in his eyes is evident on his cute, round, boyish face.

"Do you want my dad to be your dad, too?" she whispers, and she wants that for him, too. She looks over at Noah, and he smiles at her. Because the Elliot that Eli gets now, the father that they all get, is the one Noah deserves, too, and she loves her youngest brother for being able to understand that at his young age, too.

He's just like Elliot.

Patient, loving, healing, open, supportive, and also surprisingly gentle. Her dad is having to play two roles now and has been softened by the hardships they have all faced, the grief and the cases, the battles he fought on his own. Not to mention all that's silently and secretly being carried with Olivia.

Sweet, loving, and understanding Olivia.

Standing six feet away with her hands at her side, trying not to look too hard at their dad.

The two of them kill her, they really do. How noble and loyal they are, and how absolutely terrifying this must be for them, especially at their ages, but get a clue she wants to say.

She rolls her eyes and looks over at her youngest sister, who nods over to them meets Kathleen with a smile and a wink. Their dad is starting up the BBQ and laughs at Olivia showing him something on her phone.

"Does your dad love my mom?"

Kathleen wants to wince thinking of her father's piss poor timing when he confirmed what she knew all along. She nods and settles on a smile, but is thankful Noah has no idea what the night was like where her father finally said it aloud.

"Yes he does, and I think she loves him too."

That night was worlds away from who he is now, nearly two years later, and still, Olivia is as supportive and understanding as ever. She hasn't ever stepped away from being there for his children and doesn't seem to plan on it anytime soon either.

"So, you are okay with him being in love with her?" he whispers, looking down at the grass below them, kicking at the dandelions before looking up at her. This is all new to all of them, especially Noah. He's never seen his mom like this ever before.

"Noah, I was sick, and I'm better now, and it's because of your mom. She actually called my grandma when I was in big trouble."

Kathleen and Noah both look over at their parents talking over the BBQ as Olivia holds the tray for him.

"I told you she saved my mom and Eli, but she also saved my life once, too. She's done that for a lot of people. And I think dad makes her happy…does she seem happier at home?"

"Yeah, she sings when she showers even though she has the worst voice ever. And sometimes she acts weird when she gets texts late at night and just smiles at her phone, not even really blinking. She only does that when she's really happy, I think." He looks pretty sure of his evaluation of Olivia, and it makes Kathleen laugh because she's experienced this to a certain degree.

She saw her dad a week ago, phone in hand sitting on his steps, typing with a smile long after dinner is done and all the other kids have left.

"Did you see that video the other day of a whale that swallowed the guy and actually spit him out?" Elliot says out loud, smiling at his screen, glasses on his nose. He couldn't look anymore like a grandpa, which is the next point of conversation.

"Really? Is that for real?" she asks, looking over at him watching a video on his phone held up close to his face.

"Liv and these whales…" he mutters with a smile, as he texts back to who his daughter knows for certain is Olivia herself.

"Invite her next Sunday to Maureen and Shell's housewarming," Kathleen says, but he's lost in the conversation, still laughing at the whale clips that his crush is sending him and Kathleen laughs to herself.

No way he even heard her.

She had kissed him on the top of his head, walked down the stairs and decided to save her other news for the housewarming party.

—-

Noah and Eli run ahead of Elliot and Olivia down to the car parked blocks down the road from Maureen's, stuffed from pizza and BBQ and what seemed like endless soda.

Everyone is buzzing from all the changes and news that came from the evening, on top of Maureen and her siblings' exciting and massive construction project ahead of them.

While they were all gathered together, Kathleen ended up telling them that she got the most amazing news of all. A baby is on the way, about to be born in under 8 weeks. And after years of applying for adoption, finally, her application was successfully approved. Kathleen will be the loving mother to a baby boy that is in the final stages of processing.

"It's getting harder for me to find reasons why I can't kiss you," Elliot whispers after too many beers as he walks her to her car.

She tells herself it's the beer and not the extremely exciting news he just received.

"Does us being too old for this count?" she says quietly, as Noah hops in backseat and shuts the door. She doubts he will make it down the block without passing out.

She didn't intend to stay all day and night, but it became harder to leave, and she was all out of excuses herself.

"I'm going to be a grandpa…," he smiles, large and wide, across his rugged and handsome but very tired face.

"A grandpa," she confirms and smiles back. The happiness around this amazing news is contagious.

"Grandpas can still have crushes, right?" he says, as he walks over to her side of the car and leans up against her door, blocking her from getting in.

She goes red and doesn't know what to say to that. She was cool, calm and collected when he confessed his love for her for the first time in front of his entire family, but this? Admitting he has a crush on her means something entirely different.

Something she hasn't allowed herself to entertain in so long, if ever. This just wasn't something ever in the realm of possibilities.

A crush.

"Goodnight, Gramps," she smiles as she lets him pull her in for a quick hug.

"Night, Nana," he says quickly before slamming the door. She can't help but smile the entire drive home.

—-

Kathleen's exciting news coincided with the opening of three restaurant chains under her direction as the district manager, a role that she worked at for the past decade, from hostess of their first flagship bar to being at the helm of it all now, with the bulk of the decisions for the company's launch resting on her. There is so much to prepare for this baby, but as life would have it, the arrival of the baby coincides with the launch of the new chain of bistros.

Olivia can see the excitement Kathleen has when they go shopping one Saturday for a changing table, but she also sees the worry the young woman naturally has as well.

"I just don't know if I'll know what I'm doing, or if I'll be able to do it all..seems like this all happened so fast, even though I've been working at this all for years and years…." Kathleen stops pushing her cart and sits down on a nursing recliner.

"Hey, trust me, it's scary, and I get it, but you've got this. You are going to be a great mom, and we are all here to help," Olivia tells her, sitting on the rocking chair next to her.

While Kathleen's bosses are understanding with this new chapter in her life, she still has to show her face and be present to supervise very important details regarding the new project. Olivia consistently volunteers to help, without hesitation and before working out any of the logistics, but she has been enjoying watching Fin step in as her temporary and seeing him grow into the role of captain.

That afternoon, Kathleen is the next Stabler to say I love you to Olivia.

—-

While Olivia is the one helping his daughter the most, it seems like she is also avoiding being alone with him. She is the one that has run out of excuses now. She can't be around him, and he picks up on it. She's just not ready, he thinks, so he stays patient.

The thing is, he's not guilty or regretful about taking their relationship to the next level. He understands she doesn't want to complicate what has been working, even if the changes could mean the very thing they've both always wanted. She keeps him awake at night, the smell of her on his sweatshirt after going shopping for flowers for Maureen's yard.

"Liv, it's what my mom wanted. We both know it." Elliot had overhead his eldest daughter speaking softly, but firmly to Olivia that day as they carried trays to the backyard for Elliot to finish planting.

She's not ready yet, but thinks she just might be soon.

—-

She's all out of excuses, and she thinks it's all Elliot's fault for having said I love you. He said in front of his kids after all.

There is still a lot of healing and caution involved in the path they are taking because it doesn't just involve them but their children now, too. One day, after Noah's tournament, they are eating sandwiches and snacks on the grass. It strikes her that this really works, and she wants to cry when she sees it unfold in front of her.

She watches Eli casually asking Noah to ask dad where the rest of the drinks are because he can't find the root beer, and Noah directing the question to Elliot without hesitation. Olivia holds her breath silently from a couple feet away as she brings out a bag of grapes from the grocery tote she brought and waits to see Elliot's response.

"Sorry, buddy, the tiny blue one is just root beer. It wouldn't fit in the red. It's in the back of the truck, I'll go get it," Elliot replies, moving to get up.

"Okay, I'll get it. Thanks, Dad," Noah replies with ease.

Olivia can't look away. This casual interaction and very natural reaction has her rapt attention. She is in awe as Elliot smiles and nods quickly, not missing a beat.

"Lock the door, kid," he says, and Noah turns back and smiles, waving.

Olivia feels like her heart could burst into bits, turn into some sort of confetti to be thrown into the sky. She feels light as air and heavy with emotion all at once. She feels like she could cry. Like she could finally now tell him those words back.

I love you, too.

—

Sam Stabler arrives, perfect and healthy and surrounded by so much love the second he is greeted by hugs and kisses from his loving family. He's part of a big clan now, and he won't have a minute's doubt of where he belongs, his proud grandpa boasts to Olivia while she is visiting Kathleen and helping her with her nursery set-up. Kathleen needs Olivia's help more than ever, and Olivia offers it more and more. When Elliot quietly thanks her, she quietly reminds him she's done it before, by herself, and would have loved to have another woman that has been in this position help her when she was raising a newborn. She's here for whatever Kathleen needs.

One night when Olivia has stayed long after dinner to give Kathleen time to shower, go to the store and have a moment to herself, Elliot walks in on her talking to little Sam. He stops himself in the hallway before going further so he doesn't interrupt this moment. He missed Olivia with her baby boy, so he wants to soak in every moment of her with his grandson.

"When my baby boy was a little peanut like you, he loved when I would sing. Do you want a song, my little peanut butter Sammy?"

Sammy.

She is the only person to call Sam Stabler Sammy or Ham Sammy. Today he was Peanut Butter Sammy. It's obvious how much she loves this child. She spent so much time helping him and Kathleen when he was first brought home that even Noah became a diaper-changing pro.

The baby is nearly asleep in her arms. His bottle is halfway finished as she gently rocks him and feeds him, unaware Elliot is right outside the doorway.

"This is the song that doesn't end, it does in and on my friend…." she murmurs quietly. It's the only song she remembers word for word because Noah couldn't get enough.

Lamb Chop.

Her son came across reruns and laughed hysterically, even when he was barely old enough to crawl, and it became a family favorite. It quickly became their song. Now it was her song with her Sammy.

She sings it over and over again softly until the baby is fast asleep.

With only two weeks until launch day, it becomes too much for Kathleen to do the back and forth, either bringing Sam to Elliot's or having Olivia make it on time to Kathleen's so that she can attend a meeting so Olivia keeps Sammy at her house. The next time he is over, she brings him to Target in a buggy and buys a small bassinet similar to the one she had with her own son more than a decade ago and installs it beside her bed during nap time that afternoon.

It is easier for him to nap at her house than to drop him back off to his mother, cranky and under slept, so after lunch, long before Noah would be home from school, she puts the baby down beside her bed and drifts to sleep with him, letting their fingertips touch. The smooth and perfect skin of the tiniest Stabler's hand fluttering into a deep slumber with every off key note she sings.

"And they'll continue singing it forever just because…."