"I'm so lucky. I don't deserve any of this, any of you..." She dissolved into tears again as Elliot pulled her to his chest once more.
"Yes, you do. I love you so much, Liv." Elliot whispered into her hair.
"I love you to, El." She answered. "I love you so much."
Olivia lay with her head against Elliot's chest, listening to the night air ruffle her apartment curtains. The kids had gone back to Elliot's apartment hours ago after a spontaneous Chinese food and movie marathon. Olivia felt bad for leaving Maureen and Kathleen with the responsibility of taking care of the younger kids but they insisted that they didn't mind and that Olivia and Elliot needed some "alone time." Elliot was fast asleep with his legs tangled in Olivia's and his arms holding her protectively against his chest. She had been awake for a few minutes just watching his chest rise and fall and thinking. Her mind was spinning so quickly about everything that had happened just a few hours before. Guilty verdicts, Semper Fi medallions, Cragen, a marriage proposal...the whole thing was dizzying. Lovely, wonderful, amazing, but dizzying.
Elliot stirred as Olivia shifted her position. He clasped his hands tightly around her and nuzzled his face into her hair.
"Stop thinking so loudly." He whispered into the darkness.
Olivia smiled against his skin and planted a soft kiss against his chest. "Sorry." She responded.
"What are you worried about?" Elliot asked, smoothing her hair away from her face.
"Not worried. Just overwhelmed...in a good way."
"Hmm. Me too." Elliot answered, pressing a kiss into her hair.
He unwound himself from around Olivia and stood up. He walked to her dresser clothed in nothing but his boxers, giving Olivia a peek at his physique as he crossed the moonlit room. Elliot found his way to her dresser and opened the top drawer. They had spent some of the evening after the kids had left packing up her living room but her bedroom was mostly untouched still. Elliot pulled two boxes out of the dresser and padded back to the bed.
"What's this?" Olivia asked, perplexed.
"I put these in here earlier, intending to choose one for you by the time you arrived with Kathleen but I just couldn't decide which one suited you more. So, here. You pick." Elliot sat down next to Olivia and flicked the nightstand light on, softly illuminating the room.
Elliot held out two ring boxes. One was antiquated and dusty. It looked liked it had been squirreled away for quite some time. Olivia was intrigued and timidly reached for that one first.
"I thought this one might catch your eye first." Elliot whispered, handing Olivia the box but keeping his fingers on the lid as he set it in her palm. "When I was growing up, my grandmother was my escape when my mom had her 'episodes' or when my dad took to the bottle. She only lived a few blocks away so I would hop on my bike and ride as fast as I could to her house. I loved everything about her. She was kind, funny, graceful, warm...everything that a grandmother should be. She use to tell me to "Do what makes your heart happy." When she died, it devastated me but she left me her wedding ring in her will with the instructions that when I found the person that made my heart happy, I was to give her this. I hadn't opened it in years but I had it cleaned and polished for you today."
Olivia's cheeks were wet with tears. "Elliot..." She breathed. "Kathy never..."
"No." Elliot interrupted. "Kathy didn't even know that I had this. She didn't know that I was close to my grandmother at all. I've never talked to anyone about her except for you."
Olivia opened the box slowly, with trembling fingers. A beautiful platinum ring sat nestled inside the cushion. Small diamonds accented a vine and leaf pattern that made up the outside of the ring. It was stunning and incredibly unique. Olivia was floored.
"I like the complexity." Elliot whispered, pointing to elements of the ring. "I like the idea that relationships grow, like these vines and change over time like the leaves. I love the elegance of it."
Olivia turned the ring slowly over in her fingers. The polished platinum and stones caught the light. Their sparkling made her smile.
"It's amazing." She breathed, unable to from any additional words. She was so humbled by his gesture. Elliot had immensely changed within the past few months. He had become someone so open and sentimental when he was around her and she cherished each and every little peek into his soul.
Elliot set the second box down on her leg, drawing Olivia's attention away from the ring. She set it down gently in the box and closed the lid. Picking up the second box, she eyed Elliot suspiciously.
"This one I picked out this morning. It caught my eye immediately and I just had to at least show it to you. It's classic and simple but I think it's very elegant."
Olivia pried open the newer of the two boxes. Inside was a stunning white-gold ring with an oval cut diamond surrounded by three small bright blue sapphire stones on each side of the diamond. It was exactly what she would have picked for herself. Unique and simple.
"El, it's beautiful." Olivia whispered, picking up the ring and letting it catch the light just as she had done with the other one.
"You don't have to choose tonight, Liv, but I was hoping that one of these would be your engagement ring. I should have had one for you when I proposed this evening but I just didn't know which one to pick. I didn't want you to get stuck wearing a family ring if that's not something you wanted and I wasn't sure if you would like the one I picked out this morning. I just want everything to be perfect for you."
"Shhh..." Olivia soothed. "El, everything is perfect."
She rested her head against Elliot's shoulder and studied each of the rings again. There was a clear winner in her mind.
"El, what will you do with the one I don't pick?"
"As far as I'm concerned, they're both yours, Olivia. My children never knew my grandmother so her ring has no meaning to them. The ring I picked out is yours too. I can't imagine anyone else owning it so I won't take it back."
"You realize this is an impossible choice, right?" Olivia smirked.
"Now you understand my problem." Elliot replied, kissing the top of her head.
Olivia took the box containing Elliot's grandmother's ring and picked the ring up. She handed it to Elliot and held out her right hand. He looked at her perplexed.
"For every moment that brought us to this one. For our past and the things that shaped us into each other's perfect."
Elliot smiled and took Olivia's hand. He slowly slipped the ring on her right ring finger. It fit perfectly. Once it was in place, he wrapped his hands around hers and kissed where the ring met her flesh. Olivia tried to fight tears again but lost as a few rogue drops slipped down her cheeks. She picked up the other box and handed it to Elliot.
"For our future. For every moment from this moment on."
It was Elliot's turn to fight back tears now as he slipped the ring on Olivia's left hand ring finger. Once he had slid it into place, Olivia threw her self at him, pinning him to the headboard in a fierce, all encompassing, embrace. Elliot chuckled held her as she softly sobbed on his shoulder.
"Leave it to you to come up with the right solution."
"They're perfect, Elliot. And you're perfect, and everything is just perfect." Olivia laughed through her tears. "I love you, El."
"I love you too." He whispered
Olivia's alarm went of far to early a few hours later. Elliot groaned and reached for the snooze button but Olivia was already sitting on the side of the bed, stretching her arms above her head. She was anxious to get to the station to see Cragen.
Elliot crawled over to her side of the bed and wrapped an arm around her waist. She squealed as he pulled her back into bed, pinning her beneath him in one quick motion.
"And where do you think you're going, Detective?"
Olivia was completely powerless against a playful Elliot.
"Nowhere." She whispered, pulling his face down to meet hers in an insistent kiss.
She wrapped her legs around the backs of his thighs and pushed his body closer to hers. He fell to his forearms, lips still melded with hers. She dragged her nails lightly down his chest. Her fingers teased the waistband of his sweatpants and he moaned into her mouth. She smiled and pulled his pants and boxers down. He kicked the off the rest of the way and slid his hands up underneath her shirt. She gasped into his mouth as his fingers found her nipples and lightly squeezed. Desperate to feel his skin against hers, Olivia yanked her tank top up, and let Elliot pull it over her head.
Elliot couldn't take his eyes off his bride-to-be. She looked more radiant than he had ever seen her. Her eyes were alive and sparkling and the worry lines that often found their way to her forehead were gone. He smiled and kissed her deeply as they began the now familiar dance.
By the time Olivia and Elliot got to the precinct it was ten after nine. Cragen's office door was closed and the bullpen was swarming with life. Fin and Munch were out on a case, so Elliot and Olivia put threw their coats on the backs of their chairs and settled in to get caught up on paper work. A few moments later, a couple detectives made their way out of Cragen's office, leaving the door open behind them. Olivia jumped up, smiled at Elliot and walked towards the open door. She leaned against the door frame and waited for Cragen to notice her.
"About time you showed up." Cragen uttered, not looking up from the case file in front of him.
"Sorry. Long night." Olivia smiled. Cragen raised his head to look at her.
"You look good, Liv." He smiled, noticing the ring on her left hand.
"Thanks." She replied, shyly.
Olivia walked over to the desk and Don stood to meet her. She wrapped him in a bear hug as tears pricked the corners of her eyes for what felt like the millionth time in the past 24 hours.
"Thank you." She whispered. "I would be honored if you walked me down the aisle."
Cragen hugged her tighter.
"Good." He said as he pulled Olivia back to look at her. "Congratulations, Liv. I'm really happy for you. Now send Elliot in here. I owe him money."
Olivia laughed and called for Elliot just as Munch and Fin walked back in the bullpen.
"What's going on, Captain?" Munch asked walking over towards Olivia.
"I believe you owe Elliot money as well." Cragen smirked.
Elliot looked at Olivia and shrugged.
"No way! He finally popped the question?" Munch slapped Elliot on the back. Cragen smiled as Olivia blushed fiercely. He had rarely seen this side of her.
"Congrats, man!" Fin said, shaking Elliot's hand before pulling Olivia into a hug.
"Thanks." She smiled, not sure what to do with the sudden attention. Elliot clasped her hand and kissed her knuckles.
Fin pulled a $50 from his wallet and Munch slapped a few twenties into his front pocket.
"What the hell is this for?" Elliot asked, laughing.
Cragen pulled a few bills from his wallet as well. "We bet that you would pussy out and that Olivia would have to be the one to tie you down. Not the other way around. So, now...we owe you money." Cragen explained, shaking his head and laughing.
"Take your girl out tonight." Fin said and Elliot nodded.
"You got it." He smiled pulling Olivia in for a kiss.