Disclaimer: Dick Wolf owns all recognizable characters and SVU. I was hoping to receive them as a late Christmas gift but alas, it didn't happen.
A/N: Many thanks and much love to my amazing betas. I am so blessed by your friendships!
To the readers, many thanks as well. Your reviews truly do mean a lot to me and encourage me! I hope you enjoy the second part of this two shot. Please review and let me know what you think!
The conclusion of Part Of My Soul. Elliot puts his plan into action. Will it result in a happy ending or in more heartbreak?
Part Of My Soul ~ Part Two
Two weeks later, a few days after returning home from their honeymoon, Elliot sat in Captain Cragen's office, talking over the plan he hoped to surprise his wife with.
"You really didn't know that she has a daughter?" Cragen asked with a slight tone of disbelief in his voice. "If she told anyone, it would have been you."
"No," the younger man answered. "I had no clue until she told me on our honeymoon."
"So, no one knew. She never told anyone."
"Not a soul."
Cragen sighed and rubbed his hands down his face. "Do you think your plan is going to work?"
"I don't know." Elliot answered honestly. "I talked to Judge Donnelly and she said that she would help."
"The first thing you need to do is find the child. Find out if she's been adopted or what."
"That's where I'm headed right now," Elliot responded as he stood and held his hand out to his Captain. "But can you keep this under wraps for now? I don't want to get Liv's hopes up only to fail."
"Of course," Cragen answered as he shook Elliot's hand. He pulled the younger man into a quick hug. "Good luck, son."
"Thanks." With a smile and a quick nod, Elliot walked out of Cragen's office and out of the precinct.
~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~
A month later, a snowy Christmas Eve dawned over New York City. Olivia slowly woke and stretched as she looked over at the alarm clock. She smiled then rolled over in bed and propped herself up on her husband's chest.
Elliot automatically wrapped his arms around her and returned her smile. "Morning," his voice was gruff from sleep.
"Merry Christmas Eve," she answered softly before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his.
"Merry Christmas," he mumbled back when she pulled away from their kiss.
"I still don't know how you managed to get Captain to let both of us off on Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day."
"I have my ways." Elliot grinned. "Just enjoy it, Babe."
"Oh, I plan to," she answered with a grin of her own.
"It's almost 9 am," he said with a glance at the alarm clock. "We better get up and get ready."
"Why? We're still newlyweds. We could spend our first Christmas Eve, as a married couple, in bed." She tempted as she rubbed his bare chest seductively.
"As wonderful as that sounds, I have to refuse." He pulled her close again and kissed away her pout. "But only because I have a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" Olivia sat up, her eyes bright with excitement. "What is it?"
"Well, if I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore."
"Aw, come on. Just a hint?" She coaxed.
"Nope," he grinned. "But you don't have to wait long. Your surprise should be here soon." He laughed as his wife jumped out of bed and scurried to the bathroom.
The bathroom door closed behind her and the shower started a moment later.
Elliot chucked again as he crawled out of bed. He made his way to the closet, thankful he had showered the night before. It only took a couple of minutes for him to choose his clothes for the day and get dressed.
~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~EO~~
He greeted her with a cup of freshly brewed coffee when she emerged from the bathroom with her hair still damp from her shower.
"Thanks." She smiled graciously as she accepted the mug he offered with one hand and ran the fingers of her other hand through her hair.
"You're welcome," he grinned as he took a drink of his own coffee.
She raised the mug to her lips and tilted her head back. She grimaced as the hot, bitter liquid burned her throat on the way down.
"I'm sorry," Elliot apologized quickly. "I forgot to tell you that it's hotter than usual."
She took another drink before shaking her head. "it's ok, don't worry about it. I actually like it better than normal."
"Want some breakfast?"
"I want my surprise."
He laughed out loud at the sparkle in her eyes. "Soon, Sweetheart. Soon."
"But I want it now," she pouted playfully.
"Pouting gets you nowhere." He laughed again. "You can have it as soon as it arrives."
"Arrives?" The confusion was evident in her voice.
"Yes, arrives."
"So, it's not here."
"Not yet."
"Humm…" She rubbed her chin as she thought.
"What are you doing?" he asked with a laugh as she tilted her head, watching him.
"Trying to figure out what the surprise is."
As soon as the words left her mouth, the doorbell rang and she raised an eyebrow.
"You can stay in here and try to figure it out; or you can go see what it is." He grinned as he walked toward the front door.
Olivia quickly put her coffee mug down and rushed past Elliot, beating him to the door. She glanced back at him with a wide grin before pulling the door open. The wide grin on her face changed to a confused smile. "Casey?" She addressed the visitor at her front door.
"Hey, Liv." Casey smiled then leaned forward and gave her a quick hug.
Olivia stepped back to let Casey in but Casey remained just outside the door.
Elliot grinned at Casey in greeting. "You made it."
"I did," she replied with a grin of her own.
"Casey's my surprise?" Olivia asked as she looked over at her husband. "Not that I'm not happy to see you." She added quickly as she glanced at Casey. "Cause I am. I'm glad you're here."
"I know," Casey answered, the smile never leaving her face.
"But," Olivia turned back to Elliot. "I don't understand. We work with Casey and see her almost every day. How is she my surprise?"
"She's not." Elliot answered as Casey stepped inside the house, gently pulling a little girl out from behind her. "She is," he motioned to the young brunette who now stood timidly beside Casey.
Olivia's gaze turned from her husband to the small girl at her friend's side. She gasped in surprise as she took in the sight of a much younger version of herself.
"Liv," Elliot began. "This is - "
She cut him off before he could continue. "Adora…" tears pooled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks as she dropped down to her knees, getting eye level with the child. "Hi…" she whispered.
"Hi…" the little girl whispered back as she still gripped Casey's hand.
"How…?" Olivia's question hung in the air, unfinished, as she glanced up at her husband before returning her gaze back to the small child in front of her.
"Judge Donnelly," Elliot answered. "She took care of everything. We have Adora until New Year's Day. Then we have to go see Judge Donnelly to decide what to do next."
She looked up at him again, the questions written in her eyes.
He smiled. "Adora has not been adopted yet. She's been staying with a foster family," he answered in reply to her silent questions. "We can have your parental rights reinstated."
She swallowed back a relieved sob, overjoyed at his words.
"It'll take some time and some work, but we can do it."
The smile on her face silently conveyed her gratitude and thankfulness.
Elliot nodded with a smile of his own in response to her unspoken words.
"Adora… Sweetheart…" Olivia remained on her knees, tears rolling down her cheeks as she held out one hand to the child. "I'm your…"
"You're my mommy." Adora said knowingly, much wiser than her young seven years of age.
"That's right." Olivia spoke softly as she continued to hold her hand out.
Adora let go of Casey's hand, then stepped closer and put her hand into Olivia's. "You named me." The young girl said, repeating the fact that she had been told for as long as she could remember.
"I did," she answered as she gently squeezed the girl's hand. Another wave of fresh tears streamed down her face as she touched her daughter for the first time in seven years. "Do you know why I named you Adora?"
The child shook her head and moved a little closer to her mother, tears pooling in her own eyes.
"Because I adored you so much, even before you were born."
"But you didn't want to keep me?" Adora whispered as tears spilled down her small cheeks.
"Oh, my love." Olivia gently pulled her child closer to herself, still being careful to keep from scaring the girl. "I always wanted you, Beloved. And I still want you. I'll always want you. You're part of my soul. I was just too young when you were born and I couldn't take care of you the way a baby needs."
Adora smiled and threw herself into her mother's arms and wrapped her arms around Olivia's neck. She hugged her as tight as her little arms could manage and buried her face in Olivia's shoulder. "I knew you'd find me," she cried happily. "I always knew you'd come for me one day, Mommy."
A/N 2: Yay! A happy ending! A warm and fuzzy Christmas Eve for our favorite detectives!
Leave me a review? Please? I always enjoy hearing the thoughts of the readers.
I have two more independent, stand alone, Christmas one shots that I want to post in this collection before moving out of the Christmas state of mind. I hope you're not burned out on Christmas stories yet!
