DISCLAIMER: Characters are not mine. Though I wish they were.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews everyone. I really appreciate them, more than I can say. Please enjoy the final chapter!

Elliot watched her eyes close softly at his words. She smiled ever-so-slightly.

"A son?" she whispered weakly, her lovely eyes opening and finding his immediately.

Elliot smiled as more tears spilled down his cheeks. "Yes, Olivia," he said, softly touching her hair. "A son."

"He's… he's…" She couldn't form the words. Wordlessly, he told her that he understood everything she was trying to say, that he was asking the same questions.

"I don't know, Liv," he said, looking down as she intertwined their fingers. He smiled, her touch soothing him, calming him, bringing him back to where he was supposed to be. They were okay. They had to be okay.

"I… I want to see him," Olivia said, tears filling her eyes. "I need to see him. Elliot." She squeezed her eyes shut, as if in pain.

"Liv? Are you hurting?" He stood and made to go get the doctor.

"No, no," she kept hold of his hand, not wanting him to leave her. "I'm fine, but… our son…"

Elliot could tell she was confused, that she was hurting, that she was desperate to see their child. He placed a soft hand on her collarbone and hushed her soothingly. "Olivia… you lost a lot of blood. It's what they call a placental abruption. It's when the placenta-"

"I know what it is, El," she said softly, closing her eyes. Her words weren't mean, but laced with anxiety and fear.

Elliot nodded. "They had to deliver. It was going to kill you and the baby… it was the only way."

Olivia nodded as the tears began pouring down her cheeks. "Elliot… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."

"Why, Liv?" Elliot brushed the tears away with his thumb. He'd seen her cry so much recently. First when Calvin was taken from her, then yesterday when they'd argued and said hateful things to each other. Now, these tears were the worst of it. Elliot made a silent vow to himself right there that she would never cry again.

Olivia tried to calm herself, she tried. But she was in so much pain and she just wanted to see her son. She felt so guilty that she was too weak to carry Elliot's child to term. And she was angry with the world, because just when it seemed she would get everything she ever wanted, something would happen and it would be gone in an instant.

"I couldn't… I couldn't…" Olivia took a breath and swallowed. The tears just kept coming. "I couldn't give you a healthy child."

"Oh God, Liv, no…" Elliot shook his head and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Kathy… she gave you five beautiful children. My one chance… my only chance… and I couldn't do it."

She could see that Elliot had no words to calm her despair. All he could do was touch her cheek.

"Elliot, please," she squeezed his hand as hard as she could. "I need to see him…"

"Liv… I—I don't think you can." She could tell that Elliot hated to say the words. "You need to rest."

"Dammit, Elliot, I want to see my son!" It took all her strength to say the words and mean them.

"I know you do, but you can't, Olivia." Leave it to Elliot to always give it to her straight. He said the words firmly and it hurt her. She saw his face soften. "I want to see him, too, Liv…"

"Wait," Olivia stopped him before he could go any further. "You haven't seen him yet?"

"No," Elliot shook his head. His voice was barely above a whisper. "I couldn't leave you."

"Oh, El," Olivia ran her fingers over the back of his hand.

"I waited so long for you… And I lost you once. I couldn't bear to lose you again."

The words were the most beautiful words that had ever been strung together. For the first time in her life, Olivia felt whole. And she felt Elliot's pain. She couldn't imagine what the last several hours had been like for him.

"I'm so sorry, Elliot," Olivia said, touching his cheek and loving the feel of his skin under her hand. "Are you okay?"

Elliot laughed out loud.

Olivia was the most incredible woman he'd ever known. Here she was, laid up in a hospital bed after nearly having her uterus ripped in two, giving birth to his son and nearly dying from it… and she was asking him if he was okay.

"Olivia…" he smiled genuinely into her eyes. He could see her light up when he did so. He'd never had this effect on a woman before, seeing her face brighten when he was near. It felt damn good. It felt even more damn good that this woman was Olivia.

"I… I love you, Elliot," she said softly, never breaking eye contact with him. He knew the strength it took for her to say that. Olivia had trouble with love, it had forsaken her so many times in the past.

"I love you, too, Liv." He said the words reassuringly. He wasn't going anywhere.

At that moment, they were contented just to be with each other. Having gone through so much in the past… hell, in the past 7 months, they enjoyed the peaceful bliss of being in one another's company.

Peaceful bliss, however, was short lived, as a nurse chose that moment to check Olivia's vital signs. Upon realizing her patient was awake, the nurse immediately called for a doctor. Elliot felt the whirlwind rise up again and fought against the anxiety building in his chest. Olivia was okay, she was here, she was conscious, she was speaking with the doctor. He had no reason to worry… except that's what they told him when they released her yesterday.

Huang told him once that the fact that he cared so much made him a good partner. He hoped that also applied to being a life partner. Because he planned to spend the rest of his days with this glorious woman before him. He had loved her for so many years, despite his marriage and despite the fact that Olivia could infuriate him like no other. He loved her. He respected her. And he wanted to tell her everyday how much she meant to him.

For the moment, he just nodded and listened to the doctor tell her about her condition and her recovery.

It was when the doctor began speaking of their baby that all other thoughts were forced out of Elliot's head. He had to be present for this.

Olivia saw Elliot come to attention as soon as the words "Now, your son," left the doctor's mouth. Olivia felt him take her hand and sit up a little straighter in his chair. Oh how she loved this man.

"Your son is in the NICU and he's doing as well as can be expected. Babies born at 29 weeks have their fair share of problems and we'll be keeping him for several weeks until he grows stronger and develops more." The doctor went on and one about procedures and hospital stays, but all Olivia could think about was getting to him, was seeing her child for the first time.

Elliot, reading her thoughts, interrupted politely. "Excuse me, doc," he said, holding up one hand. "Olivia would like to see our son. When can she do that?"

"Well, right now, she's not strong enough to sit up for very long. In order to perform the C-section, we had to cut through the muscles in her stomach. Give it a couple of days."

"I'm sorry," Olivia finally spoke up. "That's not good enough. I need to see my son." She caught the doctor's eyes and pleaded with him. "Please… he's my… he's my first child."

The doctor looked at her for a moment and nodded slightly, acquiescing to her request, no, her demand. "Let me see what I can do."

Moments later, a team of nurses came in and lifted the rails on Olivia's bed. "Come along, Ms. Benson," a friendly nurse smiled down upon her. "Let's go see your little boy."

Olivia smiled and reached out to take Elliot's hand. "Elliot," she craned her neck back to find him.

"I'm here, love," he said, stepping up and cradling her outstretched hand in his own. "Let's go see our son."

The nurses wheeled Olivia's gurney down the hallway to a bank of elevators, taking them both up to the NICU. As they drew closer to the large windows in the nursery, Elliot saw they had cleared a space for the bed to roll through. As they drew closer to the cradle, Elliot's heart began to race. His son… his son was small, was weak, was frail… and he couldn't do a damn thing.

Elliot watched from a small distance as Olivia's gurney was parked next to the incubator that held their child. He was so small; he had a tube up his little nose and a series of monitoring pads across his torso. Elliot felt his heart clench in his chest. He wasn't sure he could do this.

And then, Olivia, reclining side by side with their son, reached her hand out and through one of the holes in the incubator. She touched the baby's tiny hand with her finger and Elliot saw his child's head turn slightly at her touch. "Hello." He heard her whisper so softly. "Hello, my sweet boy."

Elliot's heart unclenched itself and began to swell. Swell with pride, swell with love, swell with unmistakable joy.

"Elliot," Olivia whispered, not tearing her eyes from the little boy. Elliot moved to the other side of the incubator and slowly, slowly reached one of his hands through. He made contact. And was filled with hope.

"What are you going to name him, honey?" One of the nurses crouched by Olivia's head and spoke so softly Elliot barely heard her.

"Benson," Olivia spoke. "Benson Elliot Stabler."

Elliot's eyes darted to Olivia's face and immediately filled with tears. "Ben," he said, trying to keep his composure. "I like it."

Olivia grinned and his world exploded. "I like it, too."

He smiled at her and through the clear glass, he could see her mouth three words: "I love you."

And Elliot knew that all he ever needed was right there, in those words, in her face, in her touch.

And as he felt himself coming home for the final time, he whispered to her, "I love you back."

FIN.