Elliot had been at the precinct for over ninety hours. During that period, he'd slept for about twenty minutes. So to say he was exhausted was a monumental understatement. He was shocked that he hadn't fallen asleep at the wheel while driving from the precinct in Manhattan to his home in Astoria, Queens.

When he pulled into the driveway, the sky was just starting to brighten. Snow came down in buckets, adding to nearly a foot that was already piled up. He made it to the front door, sighing heavily as he stared out at the driveway. He was barely able to pull in, thanks to all the snow. He'd have to shovel in the morning…

Oh, wait. It is morning. He thought, checking his watch. No way in hell I'm doing it right now. I can barely stand.

He walked into the house as quietly as possible, quite a task with his freezing, drained muscles. He pulled off his jacket and shoes. The only light in the living room was the lights on the Christmas tree, surrounded by neatly wrapped packages. He smiled, taking a moment to admire it before stumbling up the stairs, still shivering despite the warm house.

A hot shower was in order. He yanked off the suit he'd been wearing for the past two days, stepped under the hot spray, and let the water slowly start to warm him. He rested his forehead against the wall of the shower, closed his eyes, and even drifted off for a few minutes.

He turned the water off, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and walked into the bedroom. His wife laid in bed, blanket wrapped loosely around her, brunette hair spread in all directions. Elliot smiled, and slipped under the warm, down comforter. He sighed contently; he didn't know laying down in bed could feel so good.

Beside him, she wrapped her arm around his bare waist, and pulled him close.

"Hi." He rumbled quietly, setting his forehead against hers, eyes fluttering closed.

"Hey." She answered, pressing a kiss to his lips. He kissed her back for a moment, then drifted off.

Elliot awoke to two small children bouncing on the bed.

"Wake up, Daddy! Santa came!"

"Mommy, Mommy! There are so many presents!"

He rolled over, and looked at the alarm clock beside the bed. He'd gotten about an hour of sleep.

"We can wait a few hours." She murmured in his ear. "I know you only got a little sleep."

He smiled, kissing her on the cheek. "I have three hundred and sixty four other days of the year to sleep. Right now, I'm going to open presents with my family."

He sat up, and saw his two twins looking back at him. They were a perfect mix of him and Olivia; they had her face, and his eyes, and they were probably the most beautiful children he'd ever seen. Ethan and Emily. When he told her that she could pick out their names, she'd said only that she wanted their names to begin with 'E'.

"Presents?" Elliot said, throwing back the blanket. He grabbed Emily, lifted her up, and headed towards the door of the bedroom. "Well, we better get down there and open them up! Go, go, go!"

Ethan and Emily both ran down the stairs, leaving Elliot and Olivia standing in the bedroom alone. He smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Merry Christmas, Liv."

"Merry Christmas, El. I love you."

He kissed her. "We better get down there."

He grabbed a t-shirt, and pulled it on as they walked down the stairs.

Elliot laid sprawled across the couch, dead to the world. Olivia sat in the love seat adjacent to him, eyes flickering back and forth from him to their children playing with their new gifts on the floor. He'd done an admirable job that morning, handing out gifts from under the tree with enthusiasm even though she could see the exhaustion in his face. Hell, she could still see it while he was sleeping.

She stood, and shook his shoulder gently. He inhaled sharply, opening his eyes. "Liv?"

"Hey." She said softly, leaning down close to him. "Why don't you go lay down for a couple hours? The kids will be here at two for dinner, I can take care of the twins until then."

She saw the hesitance in his eyes, and she understood. She felt the same way after a long case; he just wanted to spend time with his family, but there was no fuel left in his tank.

"It's okay." She glanced at the twins. "They knew you were out catching bad guys. Sleep for a few hours, and then you can have all afternoon with us."

He smiled, and leaned up to kiss her. "I love you, you know that?"

"I kind of figured that's why you married me." She answered playfully. "Now, go. The sooner you sleep the sooner you can wake up and come spend more time with us."

Elliot got up from the couch, walked up the stairs, and collapsed back into bed.

The sun shining through the window awoke him. He yawned, and stretched, feeling refreshed for the first time in about a week. He got dressed, and when he walked down the stairs, Olivia sat on the couch, reading one of the books he'd bought her.

"Good morning." She said, smiling up at him. "How did you sleep?"

"Great." He answered, sitting beside her. He wrapped his arm around her, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Where are the twins?"

"Outside with the rest of the kids." She answered. "Maureen drove them over maybe forty-five minutes ago."

"Oh, good." He said. "I'm gonna head out there. Coming along?"

"Sure."

He grabbed his jacket, handed Olivia hers, and they walked outside, hand in hand.

"You shoveled the driveway?" Elliot asked, turning towards her.

She shrugged. "Yeah. It wasn't a big deal, the twins wanted to come out, and the other kids weren't here yet, so I just did it."

Elliot smiled, and leaned in to kiss her. "Thank you."

"Dad!"

He looked up, and smiled as Maureen crashed into him. He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her. "Hey, Maur. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas." She said, squeezing him tightly.

Kathleen, Dickie and Elizabeth were on him in a moment, forming a big family hug. Elliot grinned, turning his head towards Olivia. "Did they do the same when they saw you?"

Olivia shrugged, smiling. "More or less."

"We missed you, Dad." Kathleen said.

"I missed you guys, too." Elliot said. "How was Christmas morning with your mom?"

"It was fine." Maureen said. "Olivia said you were working this morning. Did everything turn out okay?"

"Yup." Elliot answered. "What are you guys doing out here?"

"Building a fort, so we can have a snowball fight!" Dickie said. Before Elliot knew what had happened, a freezing ball smacked him dead center in the side of his face. He turned, and saw Dickie, kneeled down in the snow, forming another snowball.

Elliot gave chase. Dickie tried to run, but he was no match for his father. He was scooped up into Elliot's arms, and tossed directly into a pile of snow. Elliot chuckled, stood up straight, but felt more snowballs hit him in the back. Dickie got up, and formed another snowball.

With that, a half hour-long snowball fight ensued. By the time they had called a truce, all of them were freezing, and soaked to the bone. They went back into the house, dried off, warmed up and dug into the Christmas feast Maureen and Kathleen helped Olivia prepare.

Hours later, Elliot crawled into bed next to Olivia, and pulled her close. Her arm slid around his waist, and she pressed a kiss to the side of his face.

"Love you, Liv." Elliot whispered. "Thank you."

"For what?" She asked.

He looked into her eyes, and smiled. "For giving me everything I could ever want."

Her forehead dropped against his. "You're giving me the same, El."

He thanks God for every day he had with her and his children. He had never been happier.