A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful feedback and sticking with this story. I'm excited to write Alex's surprise party, and I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 90

Cheers

Alex turned around at the sound and saw, at once, her entire family and what seemed like the entire 16th precinct. She tried to move her eyes around the room as fast as she could in a second to survey the whole place, but she was too startled and rushed to do so. Before she could do anything else, she broke into a wide smile and turned toward Olivia, touching her arm lightly.

"How did you—? When…?" Alex's voice trailed off as a look of shock and wonderment came over her. They could both hear the discussions that had certainly taken place before they arrived continue in the background, and Alex took Olivia into her arms. "All this? For me?"

"I hope you're not mad…?" Olivia tucked her head down and met those sky blue eyes with a small pout, knowing it would get her out of any trouble she may or may not be in.

Alex took her hand and pulled her down into the restaurant before wrapping her in a hug. "Oh Olivia Benson…You always keep me on my toes." The detective smiled and cocked her eyebrow.

"But would you have it any other way?" Alex considered her question for a moment and leaned in to kiss her fiancée. As she got closer, she stopped, only an inch away from Olivia's lips.

"You're lucky, detective. Verrry lucky." Alex kissed Olivia and smiled at her before the detective pulled her toward the kitchen. As they approached the back of the restaurant, Alex noticed a small stage set up with a microphone—Olivia stepped up on the stage and took the mic as Alex followed.

"Hi everyone." Olivia waited for the full restaurant to quiet down before she continued. Alex watched the detective and noticed how wide her smile was, and how her eyes sparkled when she was excited—she couldn't tear her eyes away from her fiancée. "I just uhh," she reached up and scratched the back of her neck as she looked toward Alex, "I wanted to thank everyone for coming out tonight so we can celebrate this beautiful woman over here." She extended her hand toward Alex and the blonde felt her cheeks flush.

Max came up to the stage and handed Olivia a cocktail, and then Alex a glass of red wine. The detective nodded toward him and continued speaking. "So I know this was kind of short notice, but again, it means a lot to me, and I'm sure to Alex that you all were able to be here tonight. I'm not sure…she might be a little mad at me right now." Olivia grimaced and turned toward Alex who smiled and laughed her comment off. "Well, seems like we're good!" This comment got a chuckle from the audience, as Olivia continued. "Some of you probably know this, and some of you may not, but I just learned that Alex isn't a huge fan of celebrating her birthday. So, of course, what better way to get over that then having a huge surprise party…right?"

Olivia waited until the laughter died down. "But, in all seriousness, Alexandra…" she turned toward the blonde and took her hand. "I hope you know how much we all love you, and we just wanted to get together and make your birthday one to remember…so, tonight is your night, sweetheart. Happy birthday." Everyone cheered and a chorus of 'happy birthdays' came from the crowd.

Alex smiled and pulled Olivia in for a kiss, and then, she unexpectedly set her wine down, and took the microphone from the detective, her right hand covering her left. "Wow. Thank you guys so much. Dad, Charlotte, Ames—oh! Elliot, Melinda!" Alex named off faces as she saw them in the crowd. "There are just so many people here!" She glanced toward Olivia and then back at the guests. "I think Olivia covered it, but it means the world to me that you are all here tonight, so thank you all for coming." Olivia noticed a small hesitation in Alex's voice and waited for whatever she was going to say next.

"So, Liv touched on my birthday complex, and I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of celebrating my birthday, especially as I approach 40. But, you know what? I'm ok with celebrating this year…because this year…" Alex's voice broke as she looked toward Olivia, "this year was the year I found exactly what I've been looking for my entire life." Olivia admired Alex for a moment and the blonde continued after clearing her throat.

"But anyways!" She chuckled, wiped a single tear from her eye, and continued, "I know that today is special, and of course always will be, and I'm totally fine to celebrate that tonight. Cheers to 37, right?" The guests whooped and yelled, smiling at Alex on stage, who raised her glass in the air.

"But I think there's one more thing we should all be aware of while we celebrate tonight." Olivia's head jerked up as she took her eyes off her drink—she wasn't going to do this right now, was she? "While today will always be important to me, yesterday will be just as special, maybe even more so." She paused for a moment, looking toward Olivia. The blonde reached out her hand and beckoned Olivia over. She complied, taking the slender hand into her own as the crowd waited with bated breath, confused looks on some faces. But, as Olivia found Roger's face in the crowd, he smiled knowingly at her.

"I want to let our close friends and family know before anyone else, and of course I didn't know we'd all be together tonight, but since we are…" the widest smile Olivia had ever seen spread across Alex's face as she looked toward Olivia. The detective nodded her head toward their guests and Alex continued. "Last night, Olivia asked me to marry her." Excited conversation broke out among the guests and Alex shouted over the commotion "We're engaged!" Alex turned toward Olivia and pulled her into a hug, wrapping her arms around Olivia's neck as she whispered into her ear. "I love you."

Olivia pulled away and took the microphone back. "Well that was a surprise!" Everyone laughed as Olivia continued. "So, everyone take a seat, and go ahead and order whatever you want. Alex, happy birthday, love."

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"Let me see! Let me see!" Kathy took Alex's hand as the rest of her table leaned forward: Fin, Casey, Munch, and Don all craned their necks to get a look at the sparkling diamond that adorned Alex's finger. Elliot sat back and watched them all ogle Alex's ring. He leaned backwards and nudged Olivia with his elbow, winking at her.

"Holy shit, Liv!" She felt strong hands on her shoulders and both she and Alex turned around quickly.

"Ames!" Alex threw her arms around her cousin and smiled widely. Quickly Summer took Alex's hand and looked down at her ring, then immediately back up to Olivia.

"Olivia! This is beautiful!" The detective smiled and nodded appreciatively at both of them, turning around to see Roger approach. Alex saw both Ames and Summer turn around, and as she turned and saw her father, her eyes filled with tears.

"Dad," it was a sigh, and tears rolled down her cheeks as she smiled and relaxed into his strong hug. Roger reached around Alex and pulled Olivia toward him, smashing Alex in between them. Olivia smiled and reciprocated the hug before he let go, looking at Alex. "I'm so happy," Alex choked out, beaming between her fiancée and her father. For once, she saw her family whole, in front of her eyes, and she couldn't remember a time when she was happier.

Quickly, Alex got pulled into another direction and Olivia was left with Roger, standing behind their table. "Well," Roger put his hand on Olivia's shoulder, "I can't say I'm surprised that it happened this soon." Olivia smiled and rubbed the back of her neck, her cheeks reddening a bit. "Hey," Roger took her other hand, "Listen to me…" Olivia looked up, meeting his eyes. "I know I said this at the game, but thank you for making Alexandra so happy."

Olivia looked at Roger and couldn't suppress the tears that welled in her eyes. "Thank you Mr. Cab—." Roger cut her off.

"Olivia, Olivia. Roger, please…or, you know…" he took his hand into hers and they began to walk toward Alex together, "dad works too." Olivia stopped and looked at him, a mix of astonishment and adoration on her face.

"Baby? Are you ok?" Alex saw Olivia and her father walk up, an awestruck look on her fiancées face.

Olivia shook off her surprise at Alex's touch and nodded her head after clearing her throat. "Uh yeah. I'm good. You doing ok?" As she looked at Alex, she realized she had never seen anything more beautiful, and knew that Alex was speaking but couldn't make out what she was saying through the spell that Alex's beauty had placed upon her. Before long, though, she realized that she hadn't given Alex the final surprise of the night. She sneaked her way through the 'congratulations' that were being hurled at them and whispered in Alex's ear. "I'll be right back, sweetheart."

Olivia made her way back to the stage and picked up the microphone. Before speaking she took a look around, observing all of her friends, and soon to be family. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face watching them all eating and socializing, and couldn't help but think that this was all because of her and Alex. Almost everyone had finished their dinner so Olivia thought now was a better time than ever to reveal her one last surprise. She took the microphone into her hand and lightly tapped it, creating a muffled echo that quieted everyone down.

"Hi everyone. Again, thank you all so much for being here tonight and for being the first to congratulate us on our engagement. I didn't know that was going to happen, sooo…" Olivia laughed aloud and saw nothing but those crystal blue eyes staring back at her. "But anyways, since it did, Alex, I have one more tiny gift I wanted to give you." She watched as the blonde's mouth opened in surprise. "But, before I reveal this secret, and since you let the cat out of the bag about our engagement, I want to say something before I did so." She took a breath—she hadn't planned it, but she knew she had to say something, publicly, to Alex.

"Alexandra Cabot, you are everything—I tried for so long to deny what was so blatantly obvious to me, and to everyone else for that matter." The crowd chuckled collectively, nodding their heads. "It's no secret that there was something about you that I knew I needed, and I ran from it for so long…until I decided to chase it. And then I realized that it wasn't something about you…it was simply you. I fell desperately in love with you, Alex, so many years ago. And, I know that nothing is worse than being apart from you." She paused as a single tear fell from Alex's eye, and a small smile beautified her face.

"I've been called so many things over my life: a wayward spirit, guarded, even a restless soul. But all of that changed when I fell in love with you. Now I know that my spirit doesn't wander, unless it wanders with you. The only thing I will ever guard again is your heart. And my soul is anything but restless when your smile sings to it." Elliot looked at his wife and noticed there was a tear in her eye as she listened to the vulnerable detective. He reached over and put his arm around her as she relaxed into his body, listening to Olivia finish. "I love you Alex, and I can't wait to call you my wife." The crowd broke into applause as Alex made her way to the stage. As soon as she reached it, Olivia expected her to join her and sit down, awaiting her present. Instead, the detective was met with a soft embrace and a passionate, slow kiss.

"Thank you for choosing me." Alex whispered as they separated, and felt Olivia wipe a stray tear from her face.

"Well, I have just one more tiny surprise for your birthday." She turned toward the kitchen and the lights went out as the guests began to sing to Alex. Soon, a three-tiered cake was wheeled out and Alex noticed it was a red velvet strawberry shortcake. She smiled at Olivia and took her hand as she blew out all 37 candles. When the applause had died down, Olivia spoke into the microphone. "So, everyone come up here and get a piece of 'Alexandra's Red Velvet Shortcake.'"

Alex looked from Olivia to Max, and unasked question on her face.

"You really didn't think she'd let me add something for Crystal without putting something for you on here, right?" Max smiled and opened the new menu, handing the open page to Alex. Sure enough, this new item was front and center on the dessert page. Alex looked toward Olivia and shook her head, smiling—she was speechless.

Moments later everyone came up to get a piece of cake and Alex moved even closer to Olivia. She hugged the detective and pulled her close. "Meet me in that back room in two minutes." Olivia didn't even have a second to respond, as Alex was already making her way through the crowd by the time Olivia processed those instructions. Quietly she walked down from the stage and snuck toward the front of the restaurant, trying to stay inconspicuous while everyone was serving and eating cake.

"Hey Kayla, do me a favor, huh?" Olivia smiled at the teenager and continued. "Will you help Max with the cake? And then when you're done you can go ahead and get out of here…or stay, whatever you want to do." Kayla nodded and Olivia waited for her to vacate her post at the hostess stand before opening the door to the back room. Before she could even shut the door, Alex began talking.

"I just want to know one thing…" Olivia was a little put off by her tone, and hoped she wasn't secretly mad about the whole party. Alex moved forward and placed two soft kisses on Olivia's neck. "What did I ever do to deserve this? To deserve you?" Olivia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and kissed the attorney full on the mouth.

"You loved me." Alex smiled softly and pulled Olivia close. "Happy birthday babe. I love you."