"El'lit!" Ben screamed as he tackled Elliot Stabler, the detective barely managing to grab onto the boy and hoist him into the air.
"Hey tiger! How have you been little man?" Elliot questioned as he spun him around once more tossing him gently up into the air—much to Alex's disapproval—before catching him.
"Good! I grew taller! Can you tell? Mama told me I grew another inch!" Elliot grinned as he glanced over at Olivia who was gazing lovingly at Ben.
"I sure can, buddy! You're getting so big! Soon you're going to be bigger than your mama!"
"No!" Ben squealed as he laughed, Elliot letting him down to the ground now. "Then Mommy won't be able to pick me up!" He ran over to Alex's legs, holding up his hands in an attempt to be picked up.
"You're too heavy, Ben!" Alex teased as she ruffled up his hair before hoisting him in the air. He immediately resumed his normal position, arms wrapping around Alex's neck and pulling her hair on accident, legs around her hip. "Ugh, so heavy! I don't know if I can carry you anymore." Alex took drastic steps over to Olivia who ruffled up Ben's hair as well.
"Why don't you go play with Elliot, Benjie? I know he brought some fun toys that you're going to have a blast with tonight!" Olivia encouraged as Elliot walked over to his bag. Ben slid down to the ground but looked at Olivia and Alex curiously.
"Are you going to play too?" He questioned as he stayed watching the two women, his brain not yet processing why both of the women were dressed up nicely, Alex in a deep blue dress and Olivia in a white blouse, black blazer, and black slacks.
Olivia sighed as she kneeled down before Ben. "Buddy, we went over this last night, remember? Today you were going to play with your sister and Elliot while Mommy and I go out for a bit. It'll only be a couple of hours and we'll be back before you go to bed."
Ben frowned as he glanced over to Alex, pushing out his lower lip and allowing it to wiggle. "Don't give me that look, mister," Alex teased as she walked over to him and leaned down as well, using Olivia shoulder for support. "No crying."
"But—but Mommy! I don' wanna be 'lone!"
Alex sighed as the waterworks began, his little hands grasping for anything in sight which just so happened to be the edge of Alex's dress. "Ben, we talked about this and you agreed that you would be fine with spending a couple of hours with Elliot. You love spending time with him!"
Ben shook his head as tears streamed down his face. "I don' wan' you to leab me!"
"We'll be back before you go to bed, buddy," Olivia assured him as she gave up and sat down on the ground, Ben immediately running toward her and wrapping his arms around her neck since she was now at his level.
Olivia rubbed his back slowly up and down as he cried into her blazer. After a few minutes of comforting words from her, Ben started to calm down, his cries turning into hiccups. "There you go buddy, you're alright. Mommy and I will be back in just a few hours, okay? That's only four of your TV shows!"
Ben perked up as he glanced at Alex, wiping his running nose with the back of his fist. "Promise?"
"We promise, Ben," Alex assured him.
"Pinkie promise?" Ben questioned again, holding out his hand which was now covered in snot.
Alex laughed softy as she grabbed a tissue and quickly wiped up his nose and hand. "Pinky promise," She agreed as she held out her pinkie. They shook on it before her turned to Olivia and did the same with her. "Just a few hours. And if you really miss us you can have Elliot call us so you can hear our voices."
Alex smiled at the woman across from her as her hand was covered with Olivia's. "Our first night away from the kids," She commented as she looked into warm brown eyes. Olivia tipped her menu down with her other hand, setting it against the white table cloth.
"It feels weird, doesn't it?"
"A little," Alex agreed as she pushed her fingers up against Olivia's, intertwining their fingers before settling her hand back against the table. "Do you think Ben's doing okay?"
"I'm sure he's watching his TV show right now or playing with the new RC car Elliot brought over with him. I'm not sure Elliot's going to be able to take that home knowing Ben's obsession with cars!"
Alex chuckled softly as she evaluated her menu for a few more seconds. "Did you remember to show Elliot where the new diapers are for Lexie?"
"Yes and I showed him where all the cleaning supplies were too."
"I really hope Lexie isn't crying. That would probably drive him crazy. Did you put any formula in the fridge?"
Olivia smiled at the blonde, not finding herself bothered in the least with all of Alex's questions. She found it cute that Alex was so worried. "I did. Don't worry, Al, Elliot has managed to keep all of his kids alive through the years so I think Ben and Lexie are okay for one night."
"You're right, I'm sorry. How about we try to enjoy our first night to ourselves?" Olivia smiled back in response. They both ordered and found themselves wondering about Ben and Lexie once the distraction of a menu was gone.
"So…" Olivia contemplated what there was to say. Normally she'd ask her date about their work, a bit about their life, and definitely about their passions but she already knew so much about Alex considering she had been living with her for so long.
"So…" Alex replied back teasingly as she glanced down at their intertwined fingers. She glanced back up at Olivia and bit her lip. "Would you mind calling Elliot just to make sure that everything is going okay?"
Olivia chuckled in response but nodded. "Of course. I might as well make sure he didn't burn down the kitchen." Alex's eyes widened before the brunette had time to shake her head. "I'm kidding, Al, relax." She excused herself from the table, only to return a few minutes later. "Everything is perfectly under control. Ben is playing with the RC car right now and apparently has a monster truck type thing going on. He spread out all of his little cars and is driving over them with the RC car."
"Of course he did." Alex laughed as she shook her head. "And Lexie? Did he feed her some cereal? Is she crying at all?"
"He said she's just sitting on the floor watching the RC car as if she's in a trance. Probably has that same look on her face that she gets when she's watching TV. And I made sure that he knew where Ben's dinner was and how to reheat it since he's so picky about eating hot food."
"Thank you for checking in on everything."
They continued making small talk, both of them glancing at their phones without thinking much about it. Neither wanted to tell the other how worried they were, especially Olivia who was trying her best to keep Alex relaxed.
After both checking their phones for the tenth time, they glanced up, meeting the other's gaze. Alex furrowed her eyebrows slightly and Olivia smiled before nodding, neither of them needing to speak a word. As the waiter walked by, Olivia called him over. "Excuse me, can we actually get our food boxed up to go and the check?" He nodded before heading off.
"Thank you," Alex whispered as she grabbed onto Olivia's hand and squeezed it gently.
"Ben, we're home!" Olivia called from the door, frowning when a little ball of energy didn't come running toward her. "Ben?"
"He's in here, Liv," Elliot replied from the living room. Both women entered the apartment and walked over to the couch where Ben was currently watching his TV show, Lexie in his lap and a blanket over them both. "You two are home early."
"Yeah, it just felt weird being without them." Olivia shrugged as Elliot gave her a knowing look since he had the same problems with Kathy plenty of times.
"Hey buddy, how was hanging out with Elliot?" Alex questioned as walked over to the couch, running her fingers gently across Ben's forehead in an attempt to get him to look up.
"Good! Look, Lexie is watching TV with me!" He exclaimed, still not taking his eyes off of the TV. Alex chuckled as she glanced over at Olivia, shaking her head.
"Of course they're perfectly fine and we're the ones who couldn't handle being separated from them," Alex commented as she walked over to the detective. Olivia smiled back at her and wrapped an arm around Alex's back, pulling the blonde against her side.
Alex settled one arm against the center of Olivia's chest before looking over at Elliot. "Thank you so much for being our test run for their first night without us. We're officially cutting it short so you can spend time with Kathy tonight."
"Anytime, Alex, I mean it. I love hanging out with those two. They're so much calmer than my own children and I'm finally cool for once. Maybe next time you two can actually finish your meal before coming home." He winked at them before heading over to the door. "See you at work Monday, Liv."
They all said their goodbyes, leaving Olivia and Alex admiring Ben and Lexie on the couch. "What do you say, Liv, movie night with the kids?"
Olivia smiled as she grabbed onto Alex's hand and tugged her over to the couch. They both plopped down on either side of Ben, cuddling up close to him until he decided to crawl into Alex's lap. The blonde leaned against Olivia, cuddling against her side as she pulled the blanket tight around their lower halves.
"Why did we even think we'd enjoy a few hours away from them?" Olivia questioned as she leaned down and kissed the top of Ben's head before looking over at Alex. The blonde grinned back as she tilted her cheek up and moved it closer to Olivia.
The detective chuckled softly before kissing Alex's cheek as well until the blonde turned her head and kissed her on the lips. They deepened it for a few seconds, both forgetting about the little boy in Alex's lap.
"Hey!" They quickly broke apart at the sound of Ben's voice, looking down at him and wondering who was going to explain that girls were allowed to kiss other girls. "I want a kiss too!" Both women burst into laughter as they leaned down and kissed opposite sides of Ben's cheeks.
"I love you," He whispered as he pulled Lexie closer, kissing her head before settling back against Alex's chest.
"We love you too, so, so much Benjie," Alex replied as she glanced over at Olivia and smiled in a form of accomplishment. She was surprised that Ben didn't question them kissing at all but then again he was probably too young for the public to have tainted his mind.
Olivia sighed in satisfaction as she leaned back against the couch and wrapped her arm around Alex's shoulders, pulling the blonde tight against her. "A perfect way to end the night," She commented as she chastely kissed Alex on the cheek before focusing on Ben's TV show as the little boy erupted in giggles.