76. Normal

Just then, Noah popped up next to Elliot and clutched his right leg when he saw all the people with his mom in the hallway. His small voice was heard over all the adult chatter when he asked Elliot,

"Who that, daddy?"

The chatter died down immediately and all eyes were on Noah and Elliot. Elliot couldn't help grinning proudly and turned to Noah to tell him,

"These are mommy and daddy's friends from work. I think you remember George?"

Elliot pointed at George Huang, who waved at him, and Noah's face lit up.

"Candy!"

"That's right Noah, I got you candy at the hospital," George said, approaching the little boy. "Merry Christmas," he added, extending his hand.

Noah took it and shook it with a smile.

"Mewwie Kissmas!"

Alex Cabot had moved next to Olivia and they hugged, whispering their 'good to see you's', and then Alex looked at her attentively.

"Mommy and daddy, Olivia? I haven't been gone that long, have I?"

Olivia smiled and ushered everyone into the apartment, where they greeted Elliot and Noah before shuffling into the living area.

"Last I heard, Elliot disappeared without a trace and now you have a son together?" Alex continued softly, watching Elliot and Noah head for the couch while the other men huddled near the coffee table.

The men had all kept in touch with Olivia and had visited Elliot, so they knew the situation with Noah. The daddy part was new though, and Olivia saw Munch lean over to Elliot and exchange a few words after he'd sat down and had put his cast on the stool again. She couldn't hide her amusement when she turned to Alex again.

"You do know that Elliot and I have only been back in each other's lives for a few weeks, Alex? You know, since the accident?"

"Oh, of course. Donald told me. But how ..."

Olivia chuckled.

"Noah is my adopted son, and as of today, he has decided to adopt Elliot as his daddy."

"Well, whatever gave him that idea?" Alex inquired, clearly fishing to know how she should define Elliot and Olivia's current relationship.

Olivia grinned and when she made eye contact with Elliot, Alex blew out a breath.

"Oh good. Finally," she sighed and Olivia chuckled again.

"Yeah, well ... you know ..." she said, unsure of what exactly to tell Alex, but Alex had heard and seen enough.

"Yes, I know. Believe me, I do. And I'm very happy for you both."

"Thank you," Olivia said with a sincere smile. "You have heard that Elliot's had amnesia for the past four years?"

Alex nodded.

"Yes. Donald asked me if I'd come to try and help jog his memory further. We all have plans later on today, so we decided to just crash your party early."

"I'm glad you did."

Olivia and Fin pulled up a few chairs that were still stacked up against the wall next to the book shelves after the Stablers had all come to visit two days earlier, and everyone took a seat. Munch had already sat down on the couch to Elliot's left, and Noah was staying close by on Elliot's other side.

"This is all ... so familiar," Elliot told Munch, and he saw George nod from the corner of his eye.

"It should be," Munch said with a smile. "We're your family."

Elliot bit his lip. He'd had a lot of trouble remembering even small bits of his biological family. And yet these people felt close to his heart. Even the blonde, although her name hadn't rung a bell right away. While Olivia had been the very first he'd remembered on some level, she had definitely opened the door to more memories of more people. He remembered fragments of four of his kids now, Kathleen being the only one he still had no real memories of. He even remembered fighting with Kathy and seeing her hold Eli at the hospital on the day he'd been born. His parents were still missing from his memories, but he got along well with his mother and he was content about it. But these people ... he knew they meant something to him. He looked at Donald Cragen, who was just looking around contently, taking in how everyone was at ease with each other. The Captain's eyes followed Olivia, who was in the kitchen with Alex, making tea for everyone, and Elliot followed his gaze. He couldn't help smiling when he saw Olivia's happy face. This truly was her family. Their family. As much as his kids were family, so were these people they had worked with for so long.

When Elliot turned his head to face the other guests again, he saw Fin looking at him. Or maybe he should say glaring at him. Elliot raised an eyebrow and Fin did the same. Elliot made an inviting gesture with his hands, as if to tell Fin to just say what he wanted to say. Fin looked at Noah, who was sitting between them and then back at Elliot, who shrugged lightly. Fin sighed then, lowering his eyes, and wrung his hands together before looking at Elliot again.

"I stayed on at SVU after you left," the detective said quietly. "And I saw her suffer, Stabler."

Elliot swallowed and nodded, understanding now what Fin was going to say.

"Just don't hurt her, okay?"

"Never," Elliot said, equally quietly. "Never again. You have my word."

Olivia and Alex returned with tea and home-baked Christmas cookies for everyone, and she looked between the two men who had been talking about her.

"Everything alright?" she asked them.

"Yes," Elliot said immediately, and Fin bobbed his head as well.

Elliot appreciated Fin's concern for Olivia and he was glad that the man had always looked out for her. Everyone was quiet when they took their cups of tea and then Cragen decided to speak up and address the entire group.

"Alright, listen up people," he began, the natural leader in him showing immediately.

Olivia squeezed on the couch next to Noah, who climbed in her lap immediately. Elliot draped his arm behind her on the backrest of the couch and Olivia scooted closer to him automatically, putting a smile on their former boss's face. Alex sat down between Fin and George across from the couch and smiled as well when she looked at the little family on the couch.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are happy to have Elliot in our midst once again."

The all nodded and hummed in agreement, and Cragen continued.

"I asked you all to come here today to show our support, and to let both Elliot and Olivia know that we want to do everything in our power to help Elliot remember more of his life. Most of it was spent with us anyway so ..."

That elicited chuckles from the group of dedicated law enforcers, and Elliot looked around the group once again. He couldn't get over how at ease he felt with these people. Even with the warning looks Fin still gave him from time to time, as if that was simply part of who they were as a team.

"Also, we are relieved that finally, albeit through a terrible accident, Elliot and Olivia have given in to what has been obvious to all of us for years."

More chuckles were heard and Olivia looked down at her lap and then up sideways to catch Elliot's eyes. Elliot just smiled widely and pulled her a little closer to him.

"Very happy to be of service," he joked and Noah laughed with all of them happily, looking from one to the other and then back to his newfound daddy.

"This young fellow here," Cragen continued, looking at Noah, "didn't need much time either to figure them out. It is clear to him as it is to us, that mommy and daddy belong together. Right Noah?"

Noah looked up at his mother and then at Elliot, and he probably didn't understand all of what Cragen had just said, but he grinned anyway.

"Noah mommy and Noah daddy," he said, and Olivia wrapped her arms around him to hold him close and kiss the top of his head.

"Daddy too!" Noah said, reaching for Elliot as soon as his mother released him.

"Careful of daddy's ouch, Noah," Olivia tried, but her son was already climbing in Elliot's lap.

Elliot wrapped his arms around the boy and kissed the top of his head as well, and the others could see a sheen of tears in his eyes. When he looked up at them again, he gave them a half smile.

"Don't know what I did to deserve this," he said quietly.

Then Munch spoke up.

"My friend, the universe repays us with what we have given to others ourselves. You have always shown to be fiercely protective of women and children, your own included. And even if you don't remember this, the universe does. And so it has chosen to entrust you with another woman and another child to share your life and your love with. And I for one, couldn't be happier about it."

Olivia reached across Elliot's lap to squeeze her friend's hand, mouthing thank you at him.

"Hear hear," George said, and Alex smiled at him.

"It's still strange to me that Elliot doesn't remember much about us," Alex said then. "This all just seems so ... normal."

"It may be even stranger that to me, this all seems so normal too," Elliot admitted. "It really feels like ... well, kind of like coming home."

Every one of them was affected emotionally to some degree by Elliot's statement, and even Fin looked down for a few moments, blinking furiously before looking up again. Olivia rubbed Elliot's knee and felt warm and fuzzy inside. It didn't really matter what Elliot would or wouldn't remember eventually. He was feeling the closeness of their old team even without remembering, just like he'd felt their closeness the second he laid eyes on her at the hospital. He had come home. To her. To his family. And to the Special Victims Unit.

...

No, this is not the end yet! You all deserve at least one more scene, right? I'm not sure yet if there will be one or two more chapters, so stay tuned. Reviews are appreciated!