Olivia Benson ducked into her office and looked at Elliot who was sitting on the couch in her office staring out the window. She knew losing his CI weighed on him, she watched as he ran his hand against the tattoo on his wrist that he had got right after he returned from his UC assignment with the brotherhood. It was the infinity symbol with their old badge numbers on the symbol. She quickly shut and locked her door before pulling her blinds down and making her way to Elliot. She climbed onto the couch beside him and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Unknown to everyone in their lives Elliot and Olivia had finally moved on from friends for now to something more.
"You okay baby?" She asked quietly leaning for and kissing his neck. Elliot ran his hand down her back and slid his hand under her top.
"I should have protected him better," Elliot said with tears in his eyes.
Olivia gave him a sad smile."Let's leave Fin in charge for a few and go home for a few minutes."
"Then we can go see Amanda on the way back," Elliot replied, taking the SVU captain into his arms, needing to feel her presence.
"Okay," Olivia said, kissing him gently. An hour later, after stopping at the hospital to check on Rollins and Carisi, Olivia led Elliot into the apartment that was quickly becoming theirs. The doctors had said that Rollins would make it, and that she was lucky. Had the bullet gone two inches to the Rollins would have died. Elliot and Olivia both greeted Lucy, who was on the couch.
"Hi Lucy, thank you for watching both of them," Olivia said as she handed off her gun to Elliot who packed her weapon along with his into the lock box on the shelf.
"You're welcome. Noah went down pretty easily except he kept asking when both of you would be home. He was on edge, and Nicole is sweet but scared," Lucy explained, standing from the couch and grabbing her bag.
"I think Kathleen is going to come to stay with the kids for a while. We'll call you if we need help," Olivia told her nanny.
"Okay have a good night," Lucy said as she left.
Once Lucy left, Olivia turned around to look for Elliot. She found him standing in the doorway of the guest room, watching the young girl, Nicole, sleep. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, kissing his shoulder blade.
"How the fuck do adults do this to children," Elliot whispered, angrily.
Olivia sighed. "I don't know baby, but I do know we'll protect her as much as we can." Elliot turned and faced her. She took his hand and led him to her bedroom, which was becoming their bedroom. She sat him down on the bed and straddled his lap on either side with her legs and leaned forward and kissed his neck.
"Babe," Elliot responded quietly.
"Shh. Let me take care of you," Olivia encouraged, pushing him back on the bed and undoing his button-down shirt. She slowly pushed his shirt off of him and then undid his pants and tossed them to the floor.
"You have too many clothes on," Elliot murmured, leaning up and kissing Olivia. He then undressed her, dropping her clothes to the floor. She lowered herself down as she pulled his boxers off leaving him bare.
"Babe.." he said between a whisper and moan as he tangled his hand in her hair. He made his way inside of her. After making love, they both fell back onto the bed exhausted but exhilarated.
"That was mind-blowingly amazing, Liv," Elliot said, turning to look into her eyes.
"Anytime you need me, Baby, just ask. Don't bottle it up." Olivia said, kissing Elliot's chest before laying her head on it, as he covered them with a blanket.
"We're doing the right thing, right?" Olivia asked as Elliot traced the tattoo that was on her side. A matching tattoo was on his arm.
"We are. Someone has to protect her" Elliot assured his girlfriend, running his hand through her hair.
"How do you think the kids will take all this?" Olivia inquired, nervously.
Elliot thought for a moment " Well, the older kids, I'm sure, are fine with it. The younger two are the wild cards."
They were broken out of their conversation by the sound of Noah's door opening and closing. Olivia quickly threw on Elliot's button down and fastened a few buttons while he put on a pair of sweatpants.
"Come in!" Elliot called out after Noah knocked on the door.
"Hey, Buddy!" Elliot said brightly, hoping Noah didn't see the sadness in his eyes.
"Dad!" Noah said, climbing on the bed in between them.
"What are you doing up?" Olivia asked even though she was ninety-eight percent sure she knew why he was up. Ever since they had dropped Eli off at school in California, it wasn't uncommon for Noah to wake during the night and crawl in with them.
"I miss Eli," Noah said quietly
"I know, Sweet Boy. We do, too," Olivia assured him, kissing his forehead.
"What do you say, when we get up in the morning, we'll face time him. Okay?" Elliot suggested.
"Okay! Mom, dad?" he asked quietly.
"What's up?" Elliot asked him, sharing a look with Olivia over Noah's head.
"The girl who came and hung out with me and Lucy. Nicole. Is she going to stay here for good?" Noah asked
Olivia looked at Elliot, then back at her son. "We're not sure yet, Sweet Boy. She might be. She has nowhere to go."
"Like me?" Noah wanted to know.
"Yeah, Pal. Like you were, as a baby. So, for right now she's going to stay here so she's safe. Is that okay?" Elliot asked him, staring at the eyes that looked just like his own.
"Yeah, I think so. It would be nice to have a big sibling in the house again," Noah said with a small smile.
The next morning, Olivia woke up to neither of her boys in the bed with her. She sat up and listened for movement or conversation, which she finally heard. She quickly slid on an NYPD sweatshirt and made her way into the living room. Elliot was cooking pancakes in the kitchen, while the kids were at the breakfast bar.
"Mom! Dad is making his cheesecake-stuffed pancakes!" Noah exclaimed with a bright smile when he noticed his mother.
"Really? And on a school day?" Olivia asked, her eyes sparkling at her son's excitement
"Yep!" was the boy's enthusiastic response.
Olivia smiled. "Why don't you go finish getting ready and by the time you get done, the food will be done. Okay?"
"Okay!" Noah said, jumping down and running to his room.
"How are you feeling Nicole?" Olivia asked, giving the teenager a hug as she slid onto Noah's chair.
"Still on edge, but I feel safer here than I have anywhere else. Am I going to have to testify?" the teen asked, her voice wavering slightly.
Olivia gently rubbed her back. "No, you're not, and El and I have talked about it. We're going to keep you here with us."
"Really?" Nicole asked, tears flooding her eyes
"Really you'll have 6 siblings and 2 parents/guardians," Elliot said, as he dished up the pancakes. A little bit later, the new family of four had finished eating and were fixing to leave, when Elliot's phone went off. He walked around the other side of the counter and leaned his phone up against a bowl, as he hit accept on a facetime call from Eli.
"Dad! Momma Liv! I miss you guys so much," Eli said from his dorm in California.
"We miss you too, Bud," Olivia said, noticing the uncertain look that passed over Eli's face when he noticed an unfamiliar face.
"Eli, this is Nicole. She's going to be staying with us for now. She needed somewhere safe to stay." Elliot explained.
"Welcome to the family, Nicole! Thanks for taking care of my parents and siblings," Eli said.
That afternoon, the case had finally wrapped up, and Elliot and Olivia had made their way back to their apartment. Lucy had taken Nicole shopping for some clothes, leaving the older couple home alone. Olivia hung up her phone after talking to Nicole's social worker. She turned and looked at Elliot who was looking at her, his blue eyes crystal clear for the first time in days.
"What did she say?" he wanted to know.
"She's going to go along with the Tronto lie. And, as of right now, no one wants her El," Olivia answered.
"Tell them we'll take her," Elliot said immediately, reaching out and intertwining their hands.
Olivia's eyes widened. "El, are you sure? This is all so new."
"Yes. This is somewhat new, but not really Babe. Twenty-five years down, and forever to go. The best is just beginning. We know how important a safe home is to someone like Nicole. We can give her that," Elliot insisted, as he kissed her temple.
"Okay, let's do it. Let's give Nicole a home," Olivia said enthusiastically, giving him a smile as she leaned over to kiss him.