A/N Thank you for all the Kudos and reviews. Aww you guys make me so happy.
Thanks to Ashley again for being my Beta on this :)
I have two more flashbacks planned then a final chapter. This story is so much fun so if anyone has any suggestions for flashbacks..let me know :)
"Two weeks tops," Elliot had said.
Two weeks and he would be retired. Two weeks and he would be home, and they could pick out a dog together.
What happened instead was that he went away for four whole weeks and accidently setup a mini family mutiny via group chat, which left herpicking up a dog on her own with two kids in tow.
The original message Elliot sent Olivia was a link to a well-respected breeder and wrote below the image was, 'One of these would be perfect'.
Olivia, at the time, had read the message, not replied and turned her phone to silent before entering into a meeting at work.
When she came out 3.5 hours later she had three missed calls and 11 messages from Elliot and Noah.
The messages went along the lines of:
'We can't miss out on these pups, this one (Dog image) already looks like it fits in with our family' – El
'This one is female, she's ready to go. A little older. Might be better' – El
'You're off work tomorrow, I've contacted her. You can go at 3pm." – El
"Just look at that face Liv (Dog image)" – El
New Stabler Family Group Chat created- You have been added
"Mom, please can we go see the dog tomorrow. Please?" –Noah
(Selfie of Noah and Evie with big smiley faces) 'Look how Happy it already makes us" – Noah and Evie
"Please" –Noah and Evie
"Please" – El
"Please" – Noah and Evie
"If you say no, Kiwi says she will look like this" (Image of Evie fake crying) – Noah
"Ok Liv, we will leave you alone. It's totally up to you. Love you." – El
"Kids…leave your mother alone." – El
Olivia had rolled her eyes and grinned at how well these three were able to wrap her around their little fingers. She wasn't entirely opposed to a dog; she just wasn't jumping for joy to have an extra responsibility. The happiness it would bring those three far outweighed not getting one at all, so she had been swayed. Plus, Elliot retiring meant that he would be around to take care of it, and as he had said he would use the responsibility to help teach the kids some valuable lessons.
Valuable lessons, Olivia thought, shaking her head and picking up the cute little fluff ball. Valuable lessons she found herself actually teaching the children.
It had been two weeks since they brought the pup home and two weeks still without Elliot.
"Evie Margaret Stabler you come here now." Olivia's voice bounces through the whole apartment followed by a high pitch repetitive barking.
"Evie" Olivia bellows over the sound.
"What?" a very bad-tempered Evie snaps, coming out of her room with headphones over her ears, clearly in the middle of doing something very interesting on her device.
"Excuse me?" Olivia raises her eyebrow towards the small child who instantly checks her little attitude.
"I'm sorry Mommy, what did I do?" she coyly asks looking between her stern-faced mother holding a wiggling puppy and her obviously infuriated brother holding up what looks like a chewed sneaker.
"Evie. Mom and Dad said if we got the dog, I had to do some walks and your job, your only job was to shut the gate so it couldn't go through to the rooms, or the front hallway where we keep the coats and shoes." He angrily throws his ripped up shoe and it lands just beside Evie. This then causes the puppy to jump out of Olivia's arms and straight down to the pre-chewed shoe.
"Noah, I know you're annoyed, but we don't throw things at each other," Olivia scolds her son while attempting to pick the dog back up.
"It's not Daisy's fault Noah," Evie sweetly responds to her brother while caressing the head of the fluffy golden cocker spaniel.
"She's just a wittle baby." She changes her voice to the same tone she speaks to her baby dolls and starts rubbing the tummy of the shoe eater.
"Ok guys, so let's remember the rules. We can't have this happen again. So Evie you make sure you always shut Daisy's gate and Noah you-"
"What did I do?" Noah loudly protests, flailing his arms in the air and dropping them back down to his sides with a dramatic slap.
"Ok, well fair enough. Noah you didn't do anything but Evie it's very important you remember your job. Ok?" She waits for a responsive notion from her youngest child and when Olivia receives a head nod she moves to address Noah.
"Daisy needs to go out for a walk, and I told Amanda we would meet her and Junior. Do you want to come with us?"
"Nah, I'm going out with Chelsea if that's ok?" He walks off towards his room typing away on his phone. Olivia can tell he's making every effort to bite his tongue and ignore the repeated 'kissy, kissy' sounds Evie is making as he passes by.
Olivia grits her teeth as she takes the puppy leash off the holder. An extra addition to the chaos of this family was exactly what she needed, she sarcastically thinks to herself.
As they leave their apartment building, Evie shouts over to Mr. Johnson the same question she always asks whenever Elliot is due home. "Mr. Johnson," she asks in her angelic tone of voice. "Have you seen my daddy come home yet?"
Briefly looking up from his paper he replies, the same response he always gives whenever she asks this. "Not yet kiddo, but I'll buzz your apartment as soon as I see him coming."
"Thank you," she shouts back, changing her walk to a dainty little skip alongside her mother and very excitable puppy, who is pulling dramatically on its leash in an effort to burst into the great outdoors.
After introducing Daisy to Amanda and Little Junior, Olivia thought it would be a good idea to grab a coffee, sit on a park bench and let the little ones, puppy included, run around the field ahead of them to blow off some steam, allowing the two women to catch up.
"Junior has grown so much," Olivia notices as she watches her daughter run around with him. Her young motherly instincts always come out when she was around younger children.
"Evie's great Liv. She's so good with him. So..." Amanda changes the subject, "Are you doing anything special this weekend? I can't believe it's been almost been 9 years since Elliot proposed."
*Sept 23rd 2022
"I'll meet you at the restaurant with an apology for being late" was the text Olivia received when she got home from work. Elliot was already supposed to be home, dressed, and taking her to the restaurant but instead, she would have to settle for meeting him there.
They haven't even been together for one year yet. Granted, they had moved in quickly; managed to convince themselves it was more practical that way, and everything was going better than she ever could have expected.
Of course, it wasn't always sunshine and rainbows, and over that first few months, they had to help each other through plenty.
A lot had changed since they were partners many years ago, and it took time to share with one another the things that the other had missed.
They shared the nice, happy memories but also some awful, personality changing, horrendous events that both would rather have been forgotten, but unfortunately couldn't be.
Olivia had confirmed her thoughts from all those years ago, and she was right. Her old partner, he did know what to do. Even delayed years later he knew what he needed to do for her. For now. He knew how to support her, how to get her to open up and share her story, and more importantly, he made re-telling the story less painful for her because he and Noah had given her this new focus at a chance for real happiness.
They also had their fair share of arguments, especially in the early dating days. Work schedules clashed, and a new tension and distance from Elliot changing to work with a new task force that travelled didn't help, not forgetting having to work through the usual normal first relationship issues. They weren't naïve enough to think they wouldn't be effected by those bickerings; after all they were partners for all those years, but the old saying still prevailed. 'You don't really know someone until you live with them?' and boy was that true, and it took some getting used to.
Olivia looks up and down over her appearance in the mirror and pushes her shoulders back with content. She likes her chosen outfit and she knows Elliot will too.
She went for a more classic look this evening; a plain black Bardot dress with a wide open neckline that exposed her shoulders and accentuated her décolletage. She stapled the outfit with her signature heels and white jacket. There was something about how black and white colors mixed with her olive skin tone gave her a confidence boost.
She decided, more than likely when in a small huff with Elliot, that she would drive this evening instead of taking a cab. He can drink alone.
On her way to the restaurant, the Bluetooth on her phone rings out with Amanda's name.
"Cap, I'm sorry for the intrusion but we caught a case. You're the closest one nearby for awhile."
Olivia purses her lips together and momentarily dips her head from the road ahead of her in disappointment.
"Ok Amanda, that's fine. Send me the details."
"I'll join you as soon as Lucy gets to mine to watch Noah and the girls." Amanda's tone is laced with frustration for her friend and Captain.
"Ok, Thank you. Will Fin be joining me?" Olivia's voice instantly takes on its professional tone. Work mode.
"Eventually. He's held up, but there will be some unis there," Amanda responds, a house full of giggling children in the background exploding through the call.
"Ok, speak soon."
Olivia had really been looking forward to her evening with Elliot, but as always when this happened she just has to remind herself, this is the job.
Turning the car around at the next turn off, she glances at the name of the scene of the crime on her phone.
It was one of the high end hotels, the type that had pristine facilities, luxurious amenities and the staff were always of the highest quality. Sometimes those kinds of places were nice to deal with even if the circumstances for being there were not.
On arrival, Olivia passes by the two squad cars parked out front and makes her way through to the hotel lobby, authoritatively flashing her badge to the staff behind the desk.
"Captain Benson, SVU."
"Yes of course," a tall man with dark rimmed glasses answers her immediately. "If you would like to follow me."
"CSU not here?" she asks the gentleman, before noticing the confused look on his face and remembering he's a civilian. "Never mind, I must be first on scene," she informs him, and he offers her a slightly awkward head nod back.
"I don't know what happened but we have cordoned off the top two floors to the hotel. I was advised by the detective on the phone that you would be doing a walk through to get a picture of what happened?"
It's Olivia's turn to be slightly confused now, but she agrees. If Amanda has advised it, it's obviously poignant to the case.
"This is where you start. I'm slightly squeamish so I will leave you to it." The staff member shakes his head and opens the door to the corridor of one of the highest floors.
At first Olivia struggles to adjust her vision, and she flicks the light switch several times, but the corridor remains in near darkness. Up ahead, there are subtle slow flashes of pink artificial lighting, and as she nears she can hear the soft playing of elegant recorded music.
As she follows the illumination and harmony, she approaches the end of the corridor. Laid out before her on the floor is a giant heart shape of scattered red rose petals, and inside of the heart, one single white rose is placed seamlessly on top of a white satin envelope. The envelope is tied off with a red piece of silk to match the flower arrangement surrounding it.
Olivia lets out a sigh and quickly checks over her shoulder to make sure she is still alone. The last thing she needs is for anyone to see how in awe she had briefly been at whatever this crime scene was going to turn out to be.
Taking the gloves from her pocket, she puts them over her hands and very carefully picks up the envelope, taking out the tiniest piece of card from the satin.
'Next Floor,' the calligraphy illustrated text reads.
As she makes her way up the staircase to the floor above, Olivia is already attempting to piece this crime scene together, and so far the entire decoration screams of someone endeavoring something wonderfully romantic.
Making her way to the next floor, the corridor is met with exactly the same lighting and set up, except when she looks ahead now, she can see four giant hearts arranged as the last one.
The first card of the arrangement reads, 'You are beautiful. As equally on the inside as the outside'.
Olivia swallows her gulp and again reminds herself this is a crime scene, not a beautiful moment, although it is sweet.
The next card reads, 'I shouldn't have wasted so much time, so much of our time. I should have told you how I felt a lot sooner'.
Very relatable.
She rolls her eyes in familiarity to the parallel of her own love story.
The third. 'All those years I was gone all I could do was think of you, every single second, of every single day. Missing you made the beauty of an evangelical city...lost.'
"Ha,"she internally laughs. This person could be writing her life.
The fourth. "You mean the world to me".
Hang on a minute…
This is all far too familiar… but it can't be?
Surely not?
This is a crime scene?
She pushes the door open to the rooftop of the hotel, and what she sees before her releases the largest of gasps she has even breathed.
Strewn before her lays an altar of loose red rose petals, accompanied either side by the flickering yellow of candlelight creating a golden archway all the way down to one final large rose heart.
Inside of that heart stands a man, a man in a dark grey suit whose back was turned towards her. He was gazing out upon the jaw dropping evening feature of New York City's dazzling skyline.
Olivia could recognize that silhouette anywhere, and as the realization sets in, her hand is subconsciously forced to her chest. She takes two slow, deep, silent controlled breathes before wordlessly whispering, "Elliot."
It was as if he instinctively feels her presence in that moment because he slowly turns, smiling as he faces her. His emotion filled eyes lock instantly with hers and in his hands, he holds one singular, picture-perfect white rose.
"Olivia." His voice is calm and gentle. He walks forward along the aisle of flowers to meet her position, beaming at her every step of the way.
Taking hold of her hand, he carefully positions the flower in her grip.
When she looks down at the rose, she is suddenly overcome with all the feelings in her chest, her heart rate has increased and breathing shallows. Her body intensely, physically responds to emotion and for once, it's a happy, almost euphoric reason.
Olivia feels like breaking down into tears when the sparkle catches her eye, but she attempts to compose herself.
Was this actually happening?
Nestled into the bloom of this perfect white rose is the magnificent shine from a diamond. It is carefully tucked in just enough to secure its position, but not too deep as to hide its twinkle.
Watching her squeeze her teary eyes closed, he wants to speak, but before he can, she chokes out the first syllable of his name and pulls the rose against her heart.
"Liv. Do you want to take it out?" he slowly asks her, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand in anticipation.
"I just. I- I-" she whispers, pausing briefly to exhale before gaining some clarity to her words. "Is this what I think it is?"
Shrugging his shoulders he lets out an under the breath laugh. "You'll never find out if you're just gonna keep it hidden in the petals."
"I can't, you do it" she blurts out. She is avoiding his eye contact, and her cheeks are flush with a rosiness she didn't have earlier on.
Picking out the platinum round diamond ring, he hears her whisper his name again. He drops the flower to the floor, and with his free hand, he moves it up to meet hers, which is still covering her mouth in disbelief. Softly taking her hand down, he holds it still, between both of their bodies.
Emitting an immense exhale, he makes sure he holds her gaze. "Olivia Benson. Will you marry me?" He holds his breath, but he doesn't need to wait long.
There's nothing to consider, no questions to ask, no contemplation needed. She's unequivocally certain that this is all she's ever wanted.
"Yes," she excitedly confirms. "Yes Elliot, yes."
He places the ring on her finger and takes his time to admire the place it holds and its meaning.
His body losing its tense posture, Elliot releases a breathy laugh as he leans in close to her, her dark eyes looking up to him with the most contact she's managed this evening.
His kiss is gentle at first, and she cups her hand onto the smooth complexion of his freshly shaved cheek, releasing a low groan from his throat he runs his hand down her back and uses it to pull her in against his chest. She lets out a small gasp into his mouth before relaxing her body against his, and they together can feel the heat between them rising. Moving her hand from his face, she lets it fall at the base of his neck, deepening the passionate caress between them. It doesn't take long to lose themselves in the moment.
Elliot slowly pulls back from her and traces his fingers across her head, carefully sweeping to the side any stray hairs.
"Maybe we shouldn't get carried away" he laughs. "I actually have a whole evening planned." He turns to draw her attention to an ideally positioned table facing the city.
"Wow, El" she breathes out, barely audible. He puts his hand into her left, and when he feels the slight sharpness of the new ring on her finger, he puffs his chest out in pride. Being the ultimate gentleman he pulls out a seat for her at the table.
She hasn't realized it before, but when she sits down, she actually takes the time to admire her ring for the first time. It's flawless, and it's incredibly matched to her taste.
Everything is perfect— a serene atmosphere and sophisticated furnishings of a table and two chairs ideally positioned opposite each other all on the rooftop. An iced bucket of champagne sits over the very white and smooth table runner with two crystal flutes tastefully placed alongside.
"All of that? It was for me?" she asks him, drawing back on her memories of the walk-through. "And this?" She looks around the rooftop, as if she is just now able to take it everything around her.
"Elliot this- "
"Isn't my style?" he interrupts, finishing off her sentence.
"I wasn't going to say that but this is just so unexpected." She reaches for his hands across the table, and he strokes his thumb across her new jewelry.
"I know you've said you're not really into the whole big deal, cliché proposal thing but I wanted you to have it. You deserve to have it Liv." He looks at her and she's beginning to get teary eyed. Again.
"You deserve to have every little thing you thought you had missed the opportunity for, and if that means me doing this and you feeling happy, then that makes me the happiest man alive, Olivia Benson."
She pulls her hand away from the centre of the table and uses it to wipe away the tears on either side of her face, and when she's cleared them, she circles her hands over her face and pats her cheeks gently to rectify her now somewhat messy makeup.
"I don't think I've ever cried so many happy tears in front of you," she half jokes. "This is magical El. It's just magical." The struggle for any more words is a definite problem, and she is pleased that Elliot seems to be taking over her lack of comprehension.
"I know it seems soon and we are moving quickly but we don't have youth on our side anymore Liv." He watches her smile and nod in agreement. "And I just don't want to waste anymore of my life without you."
"I agree Elliot," her voice still husky from the whirlwind of emotions.
"Wait, so there wasn't a crime scene." she suddenly remembers…
*Present Day
"Nine years?" Olivia reconfirms to Amanda. "Wow, time really does go quick. I think I might plan something nice for El. Maybe surprise him for a change." She twitches her mouth to the side before running through some potential ideas with Amanda.
"Evie, Daisy…let's go. Daddy's home" Olivia shouts over the field after checking her phone.
