Forty-eight.

The faces staring back at Ed as he peered into the audience of almost a hundred people were mostly devoid of any emotion. He recognized some people-a dozen or so had endured the heat of an IAB investigation, and a few others had sat across from him as a matter of protocol after shootings or allegations of police brutality. His family looked at him expectantly; Ed had told no one what he was going to say, and, until that morning, hadn't even been sure himself. When Sarah suggested he speak last, Ed balked. He was willing to defer to Cragen or someone else who had had a closer professional relationship with Olivia, but Sarah insisted the final talk should come from Olivia's best friend-her husband.

Judging by Olivia's smile, Sarah had been right.

Ed cleared his throat.

"I probably don't need to introduce myself," he began with a smirk, "But I will anyway. Most of you know me as an IAB investigator, but I stand here today in front of you as the very, very proud husband of Lieutenant Olivia Benson." He paused and locked eyes with Olivia for a moment before continuing. "Liv and I spent most of our careers as adversaries. Well, uh, I suppose I was the more adversarial one," he shot the audience a self-deprecating smirk, "But there was always one thing that struck me about Detective, then Sergeant, then Lieutenant Benson-and that was her passion. Passion for justice and passion for helping victims through their journey toward recovery and healing. At IAB, you see so much, after a while, nothing surprises you. But, Liv, your passion always surprised me because even the most dedicated cops inevitably get jaded, but not you, you became more passionate, more steadfast as you rose through the ranks...and I want you to know, at the end of the day, I always admired that about you."

"I still admire that quality because it permeates all aspects of your life-you're passionate about being a mother, stepmother, grandmother, and, uh," his face reddened a bit, "Sorry, It still seems surreal sometimes to say this-as my wife. You are phenomenal in all those roles, Liv, and there aren't strong enough words to convey how much I love watching you with our family."

A few people in the crowd exchanged raised-eyebrow glances at Tucker's words. Not many colleagues had witnessed the sentimental side of Captain Tucker.

"I'll, uh, I'll wrap up here. Liv, for a lot of people, this job has a beginning and an end. Yours does, too, time-wise, but your legacy and your impact will continue forever. Years from now, the policies and public awareness you've created or changed will still be there. Your successors will keep building on it and more change will come. The Benson Center, the show, your book...there are so many ways your work will stay relevant and continue to have an impact."

"I'm in awe of your career, Liv, and I know everyone in this room is, too." He made eye contact with her and spoke his final two sentences before descending the steps and hurrying to her side for a kiss and a hug. "Congratulations on a job amazingly well done, sweetheart. I love you."

…

Noah dragged his sixteen-year-old body out of bed. He stretched and smiled, proud of himself for pressing snooze only once. The faint noises he made failed to wake Wyatt, so Noah shook his brother by the shoulder and whispered imploringly, "C'mon, Wyatt, get up."

Ever the compliant sibling, Wyatt buried his face into his pillows, but he yawned and quickly sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm doing the pancakes," he mumbled.

"Okay. You wanna wake up Maggs?"

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "No."

The brothers tiptoed across the apartment to Maggie's room and knocked on the door. To their shock, Maggie immediately hissed, "I'm awake!"

Minutes later, the siblings, clad in pajama pants and thermal shirts, moved around the kitchen tending to their assigned tasks. Wyatt made strawberry and chocolate chip versions of his pancakes. Noah manned the stove, frying the bacon and hashbrowns and hoping the vent fan would prevent most of the breakfast aromas from wafting into their parents' bedroom. Maggie chopped fruit and, once that job was done, cracked eggs in a large bowl.

Dishes and utensils piled in the sink and Maggie frowned. "Who's gonna clean all this up?"

"We are," Noah replied. "Or...Dad probably will. He always does."

"We need a cleaning lady," Maggie said, "Everyone has a cleaning lady."

"Dad's the cleaning lady," Wyatt quipped in his typical low-key tone. He had a knack for injecting humor into a conversation without actually sounding like he was making a joke.

Maggie giggled and handed the eggs to Noah. "We need coffee," she said.

"Mom might want tea," Wyatt said.

"She drinks that at night!"

"Not always!"

"Make the coffee," Noah said, "If she wants tea we'll heat up some water real quick. No big deal."

Wyatt made a face at his brother and sister. In an act of defiance, he took one of Olivia's favorite mugs from a cabinet and put a tea bag inside, just in case.

"I think we're ready," Noah announced. "Let's set the table."

Careful not to make too much noise, the trio loaded the food onto serving platters and arranged plates, silverware, and glasses on the table. Wyatt placed the anniversary card between his parents' places and took a few extra seconds making sure he had arranged it at exactly the right angle.

Finally, Noah gave the okay to Maggie, who was anxiously awaiting the cue to get Ed and Olivia out of bed. She knocked and waited. On the other side of the door, sheets rustled, Ed coughed, and Olivia audibly yawned as she stretched. Maggie knocked again.

"Come in," Olivia said.

Maggie pushed the door open. In front of her was a familiar sight-her mother and father lying together in the middle of the bed. Their heads were propped inches apart against a mountain of fluffy down pillows. Even at the tender age of eleven, Maggie couldn't imagine sleeping comfortably with another person so close.

"Hey sweetheart," Olivia said sleepily.

Maggie's eyes narrowed and her hands flew around as she muttered, "You guys gonna sleep all day?"

Ed, his eyes barely open, grumbled, "It's barely day."

"Well, you have to get up."

Olivia stretched again and disentangled herself from the covers. Ed surreptitiously hooked an ankle around hers and she gave him a playful glare. Once standing, she shivered and grabbed a sweatshirt from the bureau. It wasn't that the apartment was cold; after being so cozily ensconced with Ed all night, the slight temperature change was a bit of a shock.

"C'mon," she held out her hand to Ed.

Maggie flung the upper half of her body onto the mattress, "Wakey, wakey, Daddy!"

Ed fully opened his eyes. Maggie's face was directly in front of his and he returned her grin. "Alright. Alright. I'm awake."

"Good!" Maggie propelled herself backwards, "Now, follow me!"

Ed and Olivia shuffled along behind Maggie. When they appeared in the dining area, Wyatt and Noah were standing proudly by the immaculately set table. The red Christmas tablecloth and sparkly holiday centerpiece were still present. They'd expertly arranged the steaming platters, and whoever poured the juice and water had taken care to fill all the glasses to almost exactly the same level.

"Happy Anniversary!" The three of them said in unison.

"Oh…" Olivia's hand flew to her mouth and tears automatically filled her eyes.

"Wow…" Ed murmured.

Wyatt noticed his mother's emotions and rushed to give her a hug. Olivia kissed the top of his head and kept her arms around him. "This is...so nice...what a nice surprise," she managed to croak.

Ed grinned. "This is great," he said, "Wow...uh...we're not doin' a very good job supervising you three...I had no idea you went shopping."

"We snuck it in!" Maggie confessed gleefully. "And hid it behind stuff we don't use!"

Ed laughed. "Code for we need to clean out the fridge." Indeed, the Tuckers' refrigerator and also their pantry were cluttered with remnants of Christmas dinners, drinks, and leftover ingredients.

"Mom, you want coffee or tea?" Wyatt asked.

"Coffee, please, sweetheart."

Maggie grinned triumphantly. "Told ya!"

"C'mon, let's eat," Noah said.

"Tell us what you like best!" Maggie said, "Cause we all made somethin!"

Olivia helped herself to a scoop of scrambled eggs, "I'm going to love everything."

Wyatt shook his head, "Can't do that, Mom."

Olivia and Ed smiled at one another. The Tucker children's competitive nature infiltrated every aspect of their lives, even times when they'd initially teamed up to surprise their parents.

Once all plates were full, the family chattered excitedly about New Year's Eve plans. Noah had been asking to go to the Times Square celebration since he was in elementary school, but Ed and Olivia had been reluctant to take him or even to let him go with Sarah who had been willing to "take one for the team" and subject herself to the chaos (and the hours of no bathroom access). This year, Ed and Olivia splurged on a hotel suite with a view of all the action and the ball drop. They could follow the action below on TV without worrying about their kids being swallowed up in the crowd. Brooke's and Sarah's families were joining them, and everyone was looking forward to their little staycation New Year's Eve party.

"Thanks for this," Noah said sincerely.

"You're welcome, bud."

"S'gonna be so cool!" Maggie said, "And Sare Bear said she'd take us downstairs if we want for a little while!"

"We'll see…" Olivia murmured.

"Hey!" Wyatt said, "Open your card!"

"Oh," Ed pretended to have been oblivious to the envelope sitting next to his elbow. "Okay."

He handed it over to Olivia so she could do the honors. She opened the card and out slid a gift card purchased with the trio's combined funds.

"So you can go out on a date without us!" Maggie said.

"You three are so sweet," Olivia cooed.

Ed waved the card in the air, "Lookin' forward to this," he quipped.

"Dad!"

The card was a silly one. After a good deal of searching, Noah managed to find a "from all of us" card with three characters on the front. The inside read, "Happy Anniversary! From your favorite child and the other two." Under the text, Noah had written "Thank you for being awesome parents! We love you." Under his writing, each kid had scrawled his or her name. Wyatt wrote his in careful cursive. Maggie used gigantic bubble letters. Noah's writing was precise and angular, with a huge contrast between the sizes of capital and lowercase letters.

"Thank you," Olivia said. She grabbed for Ed's hand, "This is so, so nice. We love you so much."

"Ya did good, kids," Ed added.

"Now," Maggie had just finished a gulp of orange juice and she slammed down her glass. "Tell us the story about how Mom used to hate you!"

"Again?" Ed asked.

"Yes! Again!"

…

After the party, Ed capped off the retirement-related surprises by taking Olivia to a posh midtown hotel rather than their home. He'd taken the liberty to pack an overnight bag; it and a spread of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries were arranged in the center of the room when they entered.

"You thought of everything today," she held his wrists and kissed him. "Thank you, Ed. Thank you for planning a perfect party and the Center and now this," Olivia continued even though her voice was starting to tremble, "It's all so beautiful...I couldn't have asked for anything more."

"Girls had a hand in the party planning," Ed replied, "I can't take all the credit."

Olivia held him close and whispered, "Tonight you can."

He grinned and, since they had all night, didn't rush to the bed. They stood there and kissed for several minutes, stopping every minute or so to smile and whisper sweet comments and stare into each other's eyes. Eventually, Ed unzipped her navy cap-sleeve dress and let it fall to the floor. He took a moment to admire her matching bra and panties and the smooth olive skin in between.

"You're so beautiful," he rasped. "So, so beautiful."

He placed kisses across her chest while she worked to rid him of his shirt and slacks. Once he was bare chested, she held him at arm's length and grinned.

"You know," she said teasingly, "You're not so bad yourself, Captain Tucker."

They made love and enjoyed the champagne and strawberries in the afterglow. Ed teased her by offering and pulling away bites of the fruit, which led to more lovemaking. The night culminated in a late-night room service order, the pair falling asleep cuddled together under the covers, and Ed making a promise to himself that they'd do this once every few months. He didn't verbalize his plans because he knew Olivia was still apprehensive about what retirement would look and feel like, and the last thing he wanted was for her to know how excited he was to spend more time with her.

The next morning, they were greeted by a bright, clear Sunday sky. Olivia's first instinct was to check her phone, but it was across the room in her bag. Ed must have felt her movements, because the arm he'd kept slung across her as they slept stiffened a bit. A few minutes later, Olivia felt gentle kisses on the back of her neck.

"Morning," she said, her voice still hoarse with sleep.

"Mmmmm," Ed moaned into her skin.

"Ed?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think what I said, yesterday at the party, was okay?"

"It was perfect."

"I felt like I left some people out."

Olivia's speech included a litany of thank-yous, so many that Ed had trouble believing she'd possibly omitted someone. "Nope," he said assuredly. "You even thanked me."

Olivia's body shook with laughter. "Then I must have covered all the bases." She wriggled her body around so she was facing Ed and gently touched his face. "I love you."

"The feeling is very, very mutual."

"I'm ready to get packed and get to the house, but," she cocked her eyebrow, "How much longer do we have here?"

Ed reached for the information card and reported, "Check out's noon. Breakfast?"

"Sure, but..." Olivia inched closer.

"...Need to work up a little appetite first?"

"Yeah."

…..

There were only two invitees to Ed's Super Bowl L Party, but he had food for at least two dozen. Olivia slowly walked around his small kitchen-platters were set out on every counter space, including the island and the bar, and most of his liquor cabinet was arranged on the round dining table. She sampled a piece of mini quiche and helped herself to a beer. It wasn't her usual drink of choice, but it seemed like the appropriate pairing for football and tailgate snacks. Ed had stepped out to help a neighbor with her stove, and when he came back in he caught Olivia smirking at the spread.

"Guess I went a little overboard at Costco."

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "Costco?"

"Yeah," Ed replied nonchalantly.

"I, uh, I can't picture you at Costco." Olivia grinned, "You know, with the huge cart...the people giving the samples...do you get the samples?"

Ed grinned and poured a beer of his own into a pint glass. "Sometimes," he raised the glass to hers, "Cheers. And...good luck on the board."

"You too." Olivia grinned and took a sip but didn't surrender any space between them. She wanted a kiss. Ed took the hint and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. His lips were so soft and his manner so affectionate, Olivia immediately leaned in for one more. "I'm glad we could do this," she said as they leaned back against opposite sides of the counter.

"Yeah...when I asked ya I was kind of expectin' a no."

Amused at his honesty, Olivia grinned. "I was expecting to have to say no, but, apparently we're doing something right on the preventative side."

As she went into Lieutenant mode, Tucker eagerly soaked up her words. Although he relished the non-cop version of Olivia Benson, the intelligence and compassion she revealed when she talked shop was just as sexy.

"Chatter's way down," she continued, referring to the intelligence they used to monitor known and potential traffickers. "Either the PSA's have had some effect or it's forced them even further underground...or," she frowned, "they've picked up and moved operations to the west coast for the weekend….whatever it is...here I am."

"Well," Ed replied brightly, "Lucky me…'cause I dunno how I'd eat all of this on my own."

The smile returned to Olivia's face. "The two of us aren't going to make a dent," she said, "It would have...it would have been fine with me if you invited a few more people."

"Not a lot of options there," Ed replied self-deprecatingly, "Work guys were all going to parties...and that leaves me with my daughters, brother and sister, and my mom who, I'm sure, would have declined."

"You didn't want to go to the IAB parties?"

"Nah," Ed shyly ducked his eyes, "When you said you were free, well, I kinda thought this would be a better idea...the two of us...I kinda wanted to spend some time with you."

It had been a month since the standoff in the Crivello townhouse. Since then, Olivia had taken the required time off, visited Lindstrom regularly, and, once back at work, was consumed with two tricky trials in addition to the other open cases SVU had to investigate. She'd been busy but also unsure how Ed's impromptu, brief return to hostage negotiation would affect their relationship. Tucker was no stranger to the traumas Olivia had endured, but he'd been privy to that information via his position with IAB. She wasn't sure how she or he would handle a more up close and personal incident like what had transpired at the hands of Joe Utley.

Apparently, Ed was undaunted and unafraid, yet he was obviously nervous about how Olivia would receive his signals of devotion. Rescuing him from the jitters, she put down her beer and hugged him. He returned the embrace and held her tightly for several minutes. Olivia fought tears, but, when they separated, a few had streaked down the sides of her face. Ed wiped them away.

"It's all over," he said softly. "All over."

"I...how is it I keep...surviving things like this?"

It took a few seconds for Ed to realize the question wasn't rhetorical. She needed answers. "Because you're a mother and you have a son to raise. Because you have important work to do."

Olivia managed a tiny smile and played with the collar of Ed's shirt. "And so I can be here right now," she whispered.

"Yeah."

"Okay," Olivia took a quick, deep breath, "Enough...let's...let's…"

"Party?" Ed finished for her.

They both laughed.

"Yes," Olivia said, "Let's start by checking out these numbers." She reached for the three copies of the football boards she and Ed had joined. "I'm not loving my numbers."

Ed screwed up his face. "Six and zero, four and zero, and eight and four? They're great numbers."

Olivia shook her head, "Something weird always happens in these games. A safety or something, or a missed extra point…"

Ed was impressed with her reasoning, but he ran down all the scenarios that could result in scores ending up with Olivia winning some cash.

"Alright," she said, only partially buying his argument.

"Hell of a lot better than my numbers," he added.

Olivia laughed. "Yours will probably be winners."

"Maybe."

"You know," she said light heartedly, "I do kind of like the idea of winning money on an IAB-employee-created football board."

Ed swigged the rest of his first beer and winked at her.

"We'd be happy to give it to ya."

…

All appeared well when Ed and Olivia retrieved their children from Sarah and Justin later that afternoon. As soon as they entered they heard two sets of two-year-old feet slapping at the the floor followed by the shuffling sound of Noah's familiar skips. The twins' faces had a pink, freshly scrubbed look to them. Maggie's hair was pulled into two pigtails and Wyatt's recently trimmed locks were styled into a messy mop.

"Sare Bear used gel!" Noah reported when Ed commented on the hairstyle.

"You look so handsome, Wyatt," Olivia cooed as she picked him up and perched him on her left hip, still careful to avoid tweaking the opposite arm.

"Ma! Mama Magg Up!"

Ed flipped her upside down, "How bout Daddy?"

Maggie shrieked. "Daaaaaaa!"

Once the kids calmed down, Sarah and Justin invited Ed and Olivia for a drink on the terrace. They accepted and the kids ran in and out via the open door while the adults chatted and enjoyed the perfect July day. It was neither too hot nor too humid and both Olivia and Sarah kicked off their shoes and rested their bare feet on the railing.

"Have a good night?" Ed asked.

Justin flashed his trademark Cheshire cat grin. "Real good," he said, "But I'm gonna predict the three of 'em will be asleep real early tonight."

"I figured they'd be up late," Olivia said.

"We tried the ole' movie trick to get them to sleep," Sarah said, "But it didn't work. Small sister was munching away on the peanut butter pretzels and Wyatt was dancing and I was like 'Noey, how do we get them to sleep?' and he was absolutely no help."

"Unfortunately," Olivia said, "They've become used to those perks when they're not with us." She didn't sound at all concerned, in fact she was pleased her kids had this type of opportunity to step outside of their normal boundaries. "So you're going to need a nap too I suppose?"

"Probably," Sarah said.

"And before I forget," Olivia continued, "Thank you so much for the party, Sare. It was so nice and everything was so well planned and perfect-the food, drinks...everything."

"You're welcome, Livvie. I'm just glad Daddy enlisted our help because who knows how it would've turned out." She saw Ed frown at her and added, "Probably would've been your little after party only." She winked at Ed and took a sip of her rosé.

Ed rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Justin. "Hey, bud, thanks for keepin' my mother company last night."

"No problem," Justin replied, "She's hilarious. I could talk to her all day."

"Yes, thank you," Sarah said, "I was mingling with Brookey hoping to get some juicy stories or some gossip, but all anyone wanted to say was 'oh, Olivia's so wonderful' which is true but, I'm sorry to say, not very interesting."

"You didn't get the high on mushroom fumes story?" Olivia asked, drawing on one of the few truly funny anecdotes she had in her job-related arsenal.

"What?"

Olivia told the story with Ed looking on with an amused, proud smirk. This is what life's going to be like, he thought, hanging out, relaxed with no place to be. Inside, the kids were playing a game born of Noah's imagination-something involving Batman, Wonder Woman, a ninja, and some type of villain who was lurking in the master bedroom. He was so caught up in the daydream he didn't hear Olivia decline a refill and mention they had to head home to get ready for tomorrow's departure to the beach house. Sarah, Justin, and Olivia were standing when he finally snapped back to reality.

Olivia went inside to corral the kids and their belongings. Justin volunteered to do an apartment walk through to make sure they weren't leaving anything essential behind. Sarah stopped Ed before he, too, went indoors.

"Daddy," she said in a hushed voice, "I have to tell you something Noah said."

"What?"

"Remember how Livvie said last night in her speech that she got so much from the job, including Noey...or something like that?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he asked me what that meant. I, of course, artfully changed the subject."

"Shit."

"I know!" Sarah sighed and looked out toward Union Square. "So I take it you didn't tell him the whole adoption story?"

"Of course not," Ed snapped but immediately apologized, "Sorry...I guess we'll have to tell him now, well, tell him something...damn."

"I suppose it's not such a big deal," Sarah said. Her blue eyes were wide and sparkling with optimism. The breeze whipped around a few strands of her blonde hair. "I mean, you could spin it as a really sweet, superhero story."

"I'm not sure there's any way we can spin the way she found him into anything resembling sweet," he countered.

"Ah, Daddy, have some faith. And anyway, he'll want to know and find out eventually…" Sarah cocked her head so she could get a glimpse of Noah who was helping toss toys into one of the twins' bags. "That kid has to know everything about everything."

Smiling proudly, Ed followed Sarah's gaze.

"I mean," Sarah said, "Last night we were mixing cocktails and he haaaaad to help put the booze in the shaker and do taste tests with straws." Sarah practically bounced up and down waiting for Ed's glare. When it came, she put up her hands. "Kidding! Only kidding!"

"You damn well better be."

….

#Tuckson

Going on Holiday Hiatus! Be back January-ish!