Though Kathleen, Maureen, Lizzie and Dickie were all talking and joking at the kitchen table like normal, the air in the kitchen had become significantly thicker between Elliot and Olivia. She felt like she was moving through a haze of tension and want. He was dying inside with the need to touch her everywhere.

They morning passed uneventfully. Maureen took the twins to visit their mom while Kathleen met her friends for coffee in the city. Soon it was just Elliot, Eli and Olivia left at the house. As the time for Eli's morning nap approached, Olivia began to get antsy. She was afraid of what would happen once she and Elliot were truly alone. She didn't trust herself around him right now and she still believed she needed to protect him, though admittedly, being in such close proximity was having an affect on her resolve.

Finally, around 11, Elliot carried a very sleepy Eli upstairs to bed. When he came back down the stairs, Olivia was putting on her coat and shoes.

Elliot walked up to her and helped her into her coat.

"Taking off?" He asked, hands lingering on her shoulders.

"Yeah, I need to get home, take a shower, get some sleep." She answered.

"I can't thank you enough for coming back last night, Liv. I can't explain what that means to me."

"It's okay, El. They're great kids. I'm glad Kathy's going to be okay."

"Me too. Listen, I would really like to take you out sometime, Liv, to thank you."

"El, I don't think that's a good idea." Olivia answered hesitantly.

"Please? As friends, former partners even?"

"I can't, Elliot."

"Can't?"

"I can't sit across from you at a restaurant and pretend like everything's okay. It's not. Your children were abducted because of me, Elliot. They could have died. They're traumatized. You were held at gun point. I can't reconcile that."

Elliot stepped forward and rubbed his hands up and down Olivia's arms, soothingly. "Olivia, don't do this to yourself. Please. Look, just let me try to make this right?"

Olivia hesitated.

"Good. I'll pick you up at 6 next Friday evening." Elliot said quickly before she could protest.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes, Elliot. Okay. I will let you take me to dinner but that's it. No funny business."

Elliot had an impish grin on his face and mischief glinting in his eyes. "No funny business, I promise." He promised, grinning like a kid at Christmas.

Olivia hit him on the arm in faux reprimand and walked out into the cold. He watched her until her car was out of sight. He had big plans for her. He just needed to get everything organized. He made quick phone calls to Maureen and Kathleen and then got to work. "Operation 'Get Liv Back'" as Kathleen had dubbed it, had officially begun.

Olivia had butterflies the size of dinner plates in her stomach by the time 6 p.m. rolled around the following Friday. She had gotten off work early so that she could get ready but despite 6 outfit changes, she was still not entirely confident in her current selection. She had decided to stick with casual so as to not give off the impression that this was anything more than two former partners having dinner together. She picked a pair of tight fitting dark blue jeans and a dark pink v-neck sweater. She never wore pink but she liked the way this particular color made her skin glow. She had gathered her auburn waves into a half-up, half-down do and allowed a few wisps of curls to frame her face. Her make up was immaculate as usual and she couldn't think of anything else to do to occupy her time. She was busy pacing around her apartment when Elliot knocked on her door.

Looking through her peep hole, she gasped when she saw him. Elliot Stabler was decked out in well-fitting black suit, wearing a black tie, and holding two dozen dark red roses. She could have killed him.

She reluctantly opened the door and shot him a look that would have made any perp in the interrogation room confess immediately. Elliot, however, was unfazed.

He said nothing but took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on the top. When he straightened up, he looked her directly in the eyes and said "You look stunning, Olivia."

"Elliot, I thought I made it clear that this was not a date."

"You did and it's not. Doesn't mean I can't treat you like you deserve to be treated."

Olivia rolled her eyes and took the roses from him. She placed them in a vase of water and then turned to find her coat. Elliot was already holding it open for her to slide her arms into. She rolled her eyes again and accepted his help.

Elliot took her hand and guided her arm so that it was linked with his and led her out of the apartment. He locked her door for her with his key and arm and arm led her to the elevator.

"You look nice, El." Olivia said quietly, once the doors of the elevator had closed.

"You look incredible, Liv." Elliot said sincerely, his gaze sending chills up and down her spine.

They reached the bottom floor and he led her out of her apartment building and into to the chilly New York City air. A black limo was waiting for them at the curb.

"Are you shitting me, Elliot? A limo?" Olivia gasped.

"Only the best tonight. I told you, this is about me thanking you for everything you've done for my family."

Olivia blushed and allowed herself to be helped into the car. Elliot scooted in beside her and the driver took off into the city.

It was only after a few moments of driving that Olivia noticed that she had unconsciously re-linked her arm with Elliot's and her fingers were curled around his forearm. He noticed her surprise when she looked down at their entangled arms and instead of moving to disengage them, he simply took his other hand and placed it on top of hers, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb on the top of her hand. She relented and leaned back in the seat, secretly relishing the feeling of his skin on hers.

They drove in silence for a little while until they reached an apartment building that Olivia had never been to before. She looked at Elliot curiously but he simply smiled and got out of the limo. He held his hand out to help her, which she accepted, and led her up the stairs of a very nice apartment building. The doorman opened the doors for them and nodded at Elliot who winked back at him. Elliot led Olivia to the elevators and took her up to the top floor of the building.

"Elliot, where are we?"

"Home."

"Excuse me?"

"My new apartment. I sold my "bachelor pad" and bought this one. It came fully furnished, thank God, because I am the world's worst interior decorator."

Olivia smirked at this. "When did all this happen?"

"This week." Elliot answered. "People move very quickly in this city with the right incentive."

Olivia didn't push any further but allowed herself to be led to his front door. Elliot unlocked the door and pushed it open. Olivia was immediately greeted with the smells of incredible Italian food and the sounds of laughing children. She picked out Lizzie and Dickie's voices immediately.

"Dickie! Stop! That's way too much garlic! What if she wants to kiss Dad?!" Lizzie yelled.

"Shhh! You two! They'll be here any second. Get that in the oven and then pretend to be normal!" Kathleen called, trying not to laugh.

Olivia couldn't contain her enormous smile. She looked at Elliot with hopeful and joy-filled eyes. He nodded and she walked further into the apartment. Maureen, Kathleen, Lizzie and Dickie were all in the kitchen busy preparing dinner. Eli was in his high chair alternating between happily slurping up plain pasta noodles and throwing them at Maureen.

Elliot cleared his throat from behind Olivia and the activity came to a screeching halt.

"Liv!" Kathleen cried! "Welcome to our new home!"

"It's beautiful, Katie Bug." Olivia said, hugging the each child tightly. Elliot helped her out of her coat and then took his suit jacket off as well and hung both in the closet. His new apartment was spacious with enough bedrooms for his children and was decorated in a style he hoped Olivia would like. It was his intention that this be their family home eventually and he really wanted her to like it.

"What do you think, Liv?" Elliot asked coming up behind her.

"It's stunning, Elliot. It's so homey. I can't believe you got rid of the bachelor pad!" Olivia said, beaming.

"It was time." He shrugged. "Would you like a glass of wine?"

"Yes please!" Maureen and Olivia said together. Elliot shot Maureen a playful, warning glance and she laughed. He poured a glass of deep red wine for Olivia and handed Maureen a glass of ice water.

"Thanks, Dad." Maureen said, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Hope you're hungry, Olivia! We made lots of food!" Lizzie said excitedly, setting the plates carefully down on the table.

Soon the dining table was set. Maureen had made lasagna from her grandmother's recipe. Kathleen had made a spinach salad with blue cheese (Olivia's favorite) and the twins were proudly arranging their fresh-out-of-the-oven garlic breadsticks. Olivia was in heaven surrounded by her favorite people and her favorite food with absolutely no drama to think of.

Dinner was full of laughter, stories, more laughter, and quite a bit of poking fun at Elliot, which Olivia was wholeheartedly taking part in, just like old times. She was relaxed.

"Oh my gosh, I'm stuffed!" Olivia declared, laughing as Elliot tried to pass her more lasagna. "It's so good but I can't eat another bite!"

"You can't be full yet, Olivia!" Dickie said. "Dad made double chocolate cake for dessert!"

Olivia groaned and the kids laughed.

Dinner was winding down so the kids started to pick up their plates and take them over to the sink. Elliot shooed them away. "Why don't you guys take Olivia into the family room and give her that surprise you've been working on while I clear the table and get dessert ready?" He winked at Kathleen who pulled Olivia into a standing position before she could protest and led her to the brown leather couch in Elliot's new family room. The room was adjacent to the kitchen and the apartment was designed as an open space except for the bedrooms, so Elliot had a good view of Olivia and could hear everything that was going on even from the kitchen.

"Okay, what is going on?" Olivia asked, suspiciously eyeing each of the Stabler kids. Maureen set Eli down to play with his toys while Kathleen passed out envelopes to the rest of the kids.

"Kathleen wrote you a letter earlier today and we all thought it was a good idea so we all wrote you one!" Lizzie said, proudly holding up Dickie's and her envelope.

"Who wants to go first?"

"We can." Dickie said. "We wrote ours together."

The twins sat on the couch on either side of Olivia and Lizzie carefully opened the envelope addressed to her. She read slowly and deliberately.

Dear Olivia,

We want to tell you how much we love you. We knew that you would come and save us and mom when Greg took us away.
Dickie remembered everything that dad had taught us about how to stay safe.
I tried to be brave and strong just like you are.
We hope that we get to see you a lot more.
You're really fun and we look up to you a lot.
We both want to be detectives when we grow up.

Love,

Lizzie and Dickie

Olivia wiped a tear from her cheek and looked over her shoulder at Elliot who was beaming with pride at his twins. Olivia gathered them in her arms and squeezed them tightly, whispering her thanks over and over again.

Maureen cleared her throat and announced that it was her turn to read her letter. The twins bounded off the couch and traded places with Maureen.

Dear Olivia,

I want you to know how much I love you. I love your energy, your compassion, your empathy, your smile, and the joy you bring to everyone around you. You light up a room just by walking into it. I hope that one day I can be as brave as you are. I know that you've been struggling a lot with learning about your half-brothers but I want you to know that you can come talk to me anytime and I'll listen. You're really strong but you don't always have to go through everything alone. Thank you for taking such good care of me and my siblings. I don't know what we would do without you.

Love,

Maureen

Maureen carefully folded her letter and handed it to Olivia. Tears were flowing down Elliot's cheeks now too as he watched his eldest hug Olivia tightly. Kathleen stood up and traded places with Maureen when they were done. She nervously twisted the envelope in her hands.

"I don't know if I can read this out loud, Daddy." She said, looking up at Elliot.

"You don't have to, pumpkin, but it's a beautiful letter. You're such a good writer and I know Olivia will love it."

Kathleen took a deep breath. "Okay." She whispered. Turning to face Olivia she began:

Dear Liv,

I call you that because that's what my dad calls you and I think it suits you. You live every moment of life to the fullest and calling you that reminds me to do the same.
I want you to know that you are not defined by the people who are related to you. Just because you share DNA with Greg doesn't mean that he is family or that you are anything like him or Sam or your Dad. You, Liv, are made from something much stronger and more beautiful. You are were created in resilience. Diamonds are formed in difficult circumstances too; the most precious things in this world are. If I could capture even a fraction of the light that you radiate, I would be blessed.
Mom and Dad's divorce has been really tough on me and then almost losing Lizzie and Dickie...I don't know what I would have done. You were there for me every step of the way. You never left my side and you always knew exactly what to say. To hear that you are blaming yourself for the actions of such an evil, evil man makes me really sad. You are not capable of being the cause of such darkness, Liv. You are only light.
Sometimes I lay awake at night and wish that you were our mom. Everything is so much calmer and happier when you're here. Dad actually laughs when you're around. He never does that with mom. He loves you a lot, Liv. I hope you know that. I've never seen him happier than when he's with you. It's like you're his missing piece.
I hope that one day, you can stop blaming yourself and come back to us. We miss you a lot and love you so much.

Love,

Katie

The room was silent. Olivia wrapped Kathleen in her arms and buried her head in her shoulder. Sobs wracked her body and Kathleen's for a few moments. There was not a dry eye in the room, save for Eli who was still happily playing with his blocks on the floor, sweetly oblivious to what had transpired.

"Think about it, Liv. We really miss you." Maureen said, echoing Kathleen's words.

Olivia couldn't speak. She was too overwhelmed. She simply untangled herself from Kathleen and stood up from the couch. She hugged Maureen and each of the twins again and walked towards the bathroom to clean herself up.

While she was gone, Elliot helped Maureen pack up Eli's things and kissed his children good night. They were off to stay with Kathy tonight in the hopes that Elliot could finally persuade Olivia that she was loved.