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Elliot groaned hearing his phone go off on the nightstand, reaching over blindly to grab the offending item. "Stabler."

"Good morning." Fin's voice filtered through the device. "Just want to be sure you're still alive this morning as you said, and I quote, you will be keeping Olivia to yourself this week." He chuckled out a breath. "Not sure how you're going to pull that off."

Elliot groaned. "You called me at five in the morning to discuss this?"

"Yes, and you're welcome." Fin stated. "Seeing as how Liv isn't snatching the phone from your hands, I'm guessing she doesn't know about her time off yet. I will call later and make the proper arrangements if I don't hear from you."

"You better get something nicer than a pine box." Elliot mumbled. "I may be an asshole sometimes, but I'm worth more than plywood."

Olivia's head popped up, tired eyes squinting at him. "What the hell are you two talking about?"

"Oh, we woke her." Fin grimaced. "Whenever you decide to tell her, just let her know that I've got it covered and for her not to worry. If she kills you, I hope you'll forgive me helping her hide your body."

"Thanks, Fin. Make sure she hides me somewhere with a view." Elliot grumbled before hanging up the phone. He slid it back onto the nightstand. "I'm not dying if that's what you're worried about."

Olivia rolled her eyes before burying herself back into Elliot's warmth. "Not at all what I was thinking, but thank you." She hummed contently into his neck, relaxing when his arms wrapped around her frame. "Why was Fin calling you though?"

"Just wishing me a good week off." Elliot mumbled. "Said he'd see you next week."

Olivia's brows furrowed. "He'll see me today at work."

"Not exactly." Elliot's lips curled. He held her tighter when she tensed. "It's just one week, baby. Stay home with me. McGrath has been riding your ass all year. This case at OC is going to bring in SVU, so you'll be around it. Just, don't. Bum with me. C'mon, you know it's better than me finding projects to do here that I won't finish for months."

Olivia sighed. "Elliot, you can't just call in a last minute vacation for me. I'm Captain now, not detective."

"Very aware of that." Elliot reminded her. "Fin said he's got everything covered. I know you love your job as much as I love mine. My calling you out had nothing to do with that. I just don't want you to have to work a case that you can really only be a witness to. There's no point in working then."

"It's not SVU's only case though." Olivia argued, her tone already letting him know she wanted to agree with him but was thinking of her unit now.

Elliot kissed her forehead. "And, there never will be just one case. But, you said yourself that you just wrapped up a few tough cases. Nothing major is going on right now. You need some time away, Liv. Now is the time to do it."

Olivia huffed out a breath. "Who knew telling you about my day would come back to bite me in the ass?"

Elliot chuckled with a shake of his head. "I still want to know how your days go. I like hearing that." He reached under her thigh, grabbing the soft flesh and pulling her body up until she was laying over him, body covering his like a blanket. "All part of taking care of you, and I love doing that."

She hummed when he began slowly rubbing two fingers into her spine. "I'm not promising the whole week."

"If you even put on a wire bra this week, I'm going to play that recording of McGrath and remind you why staying home with me is worth avoiding the headache of just his presence alone." Elliot stated.

Olivia smirked into his chest. "I guess you have me for a week to yourself then. Excluding time with the kids of course."

Speaking of children, they both sighed when they heard Noah humming in the kitchen, most likely trying to find something to eat before he would ask one of them to make him something. He was growing faster than Olivia liked, so his appetite seemed to be as strong as a goat's most days now.

Elliot squeezed her hip. "I'll make him something. I think he can graduate to my kind of breakfasts now. Either that or we need to teach him how to use the stove."

"Not yet." Olivia mumbled as she rolled onto her back, watching Elliot slip from the bed and throw on a pair of sweats. "Hey, El?"

Elliot grinned, dropping his hands back onto the bed and leaning over her. "Blueberry or cranberry?"

"Cranberry, please." Olivia smiled softly, only closing her eyes when Elliot closed them for her with a soft order to get some more sleep.

While he loved his alone time with Olivia, he loved her caring nature more. After dinner with his mother the night before, she and Olivia talked for so long that Olivia insisted Bernie stay the night. Walking back into their apartment after taking Noah to school, it warmed his heart to see the two laughing together again in the living room with coffee and muffins.

"Hello, sweetheart." Bernie greeted him. "Olivia and I were just talking about you."

Elliot's eyebrows quirked. "Oh, really? Good things I hope." He knew he was wrong though when the two giggled as he was pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Mama, what did you tell her?"

"Nothing, nothing." Bernie promised. "We were just talking about kids and how they grow up so quickly. I told her about that time you were six or seven and you woke up in the middle of the night annoyed with all the frogs outside. So, you went out with that God awful bee bee gun and started firing away." She turned to Olivia. "I walked outside the next morning and my beautiful garden was layered with dead toads."

Olivia chuckled behind her mug. "That ended the blooming season pretty quickly."

"I wasn't going near it." Bernie exclaimed. "I knew there would be other critters in there feasting on those frogs. My lilac bush never recovered from that incident."

Elliot smirked as he walked over and sat on the couch beside Olivia. "Slept with no issues the rest of that summer. Very worth it." He frowned when he caught a glimpse of Olivia's phone screen, missed calls from Ayanna shining brightly at him before Olivia could turn her phone over. "How many times has she called you?"

Olivia slipped her phone in her pocket, out of view. "Doesn't matter. I haven't answered. If she needs to know something, she can talk to Fin. I'm not ready to deal with her yet, El. I'm setting a boundary."

"But, I told all of them to leave you alone." Elliot reminded her.

"Yes, and Ayanna is your boss. She doesn't need to take orders from you." She leaned up and pecked his lips. "Just forget about it. I told Fin to field Ayanna's questions. He'll handle it. She's just trying to work her case. Guessing by how hard she's pushing, there's probably something about it that strikes a personal cord with her."

Elliot sighed. "Still doesn't excuse what she did." He huffed out a breath, silently taking Olivia's coffee when she offered it to him. "We need to spend a day out of the city."

"Let's go." Olivia shrugged. "We'll get ready, drop your mom off back home for her card tournament, and we can go for a drive. Find some place we've never heard of to grab lunch, go for a hike. Wherever the day takes us."

"That sounds exactly what he needs." Bernie nodded before standing. "And, I do not want to be late and end up with a shit partner today."

Elliot smiled dropping his head to Olivia's shoulder, lounging back on the couch as she reached around and stroke the side of his face with her thumb. "We wouldn't want that, Mama."

Olivia smiled as Bernie left back for the guest room, enjoying Elliot's presence at her side a little bit more this morning. "She had a good night."

"She did." Elliot agreed. "No spells. It felt like she was with us the whole time. I did find a spoon out in the garden though."

"She was showing Noah a trick on how to plant seeds." Olivia giggled. "I swear. He's going to be a dancing oregano growing man before we know it." She kissed the top of his head. "What sounds good today?"

"Fun and no crime." Elliot grinned, earning a chuckle from her that rumbled in her chest. "We could go to Philadelphia, take a tour of some historic event that we didn't pay attention to in high school."

"The liberty bell and the place they signed the constitution?" Olivia smirked.

Elliot rolled his eyes. "Alright, smartypants. That I didn't pay attention to in high school. We can go for a tour, have lunch, and be back in time for pickup."

"You're on, Stabler."

"It's bigger than I pictured." Elliot mumbled to Olivia as they stood in the room where the constitution was signed. "Of course, a lot of people signed it. It would have to be a decent sized room to fit all of them."

Olivia hummed in agreement. "Very." She slipped her hand into his, trying to keep him from feeling her phone vibrate with another call. At this rate, her phone would be dead by the time they got back into the city, but she was not about to ruin Elliot's good mood by telling him Ayanna's persistence was not wavering. "I think Noah takes a field trip here this year for history class. I don't know how much he'll enjoy it."

"Kids don't appreciate the magnitude of where they are until they are old enough to know where they are." Elliot shrugged, his experience with the exact circumstances vast. "But, who knows? Noah is a bright kid. If the teacher makes the lessons interesting, it may make a real impression on him." He leaned over and kissed her head. "I can still feel your phone though."

Olivia sighed, pulling out the phone as if the vibrating weren't enough. "I can't turn it off. Noah's school may call or one of the kids."

Elliot took the phone from her. "We're ending this right now." He pulled her with him out of the building and around a corner to give them some privacy before he answered the phone and put it on speaker just loud enough for them both to hear. "You are really something, Ayanna."

"Ditto." Ayanna huffed out. "She give you her phone or did you steal it?"

"She gave it to me." Elliot stated. "What do you want? You aren't going to harass Olivia about her case. Lewis has been dead nearly a decade. There's no reason her case should have any weight in ours."

Ayanna sighed. "It seems the guy we're after may be starting to take after Lewis. He hasn't killed anyone yet, but he did attack two women that we know of."

Olivia swallowed hard, and she could tell her complexion must have paled because Elliot's gaze shifted dramatically glancing at her. She immediately clasped her hand over the necklace Elliot gave her, reminding herself to take deep breaths, but her fear showed through tenfold when Ayanna mentioned Elliot possibly going undercover to watch this guy closer. "No."

"Captain-"

"You're not putting him under, Bell. End of discussion." Olivia snapped, probably darker than she'd ever sounded to Ayanna, but this was a non-negotiable. It was one thing for Elliot to go under for weeks to months investigating drug runners and corrupt millionaires. It was another for him to go and experience the personality of depravity she had been subjected to. She hated the first few days of Elliot being back from a sting. While her being there helped move things along quicker, the toll it took on him was a toll on her too. The nightmares and PTSD and guilt that seemed to take over him, making him rough and dissociated, while something she'd experienced from him many times, was not something she liked to navigate through. If he went under and really found out even a fraction of who Lewis was, the guilt and anger would consume him entirely. She was barely able to pull him back from the edge even after telling him Lewis was dead. There was no way she'd get him back if he learned how Lewis's mind worked.

She met Elliot's eyes, feeling her vision blur as her emotions started pulling her down. "You can't do it."

Elliot nodded, no doubt or question in his eyes. "I'm not." He hung up the phone, slipping it into his pocket before wrapping his arms around Olivia so she could bury her face into his shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I mean it, Elliot." Olivia pulled back again, puffy eyes meeting his. "I'm not losing you now that I finally have you back. I can't lose you to some protege of Lewis's. I don't want you anywhere near him, because that anger will take you away."

"Hey, I promise. I'm by your side no matter what." Elliot reassured her, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "Believe me, baby. I'm not doing anything to risk losing you. No case or assignment will ever be more important. You've got me." He kissed her softly, happy to see some relief relax her shoulders. "I've been in love with you since our first case together, Liv. I finally get to love you out loud. . .and I'm loud when I can be. I'm never going to give that up."

Olivia smiled before his forehead dropped to hers. "Even if I pull rank and boss you around?"

Elliot grinned. "I kind of like when you pull rank. It's really fucking hot." He felt the pride swell in his chest getting a laugh out of her. He knew this was hard on her, but he took every opportunity to be the one to help pull her out of the dark places that still held residence in her memories. He was shining every light on the shadows he'd created by leaving, and slowly he was isolating the darkness to the furthest corners of her mind. "How about I call one of the girls to pick up Noah? You and I can spend a night away from the city, get a wildly expensive hotel room, order room service."

"That sounds like a good idea." Olivia hummed. "But, I think I need a family dinner. I need the kids being loud and competitive and talking with their mouths full." She giggled as Elliot shook his head with his own smile. "I need our family chaos."

"I'll text the heathens before we leave to see what works out for them." Elliot smirked. "I can talk to Kathleen and find out if she has any plans tonight. We can bring her dinner."

Olivia nodded. "Sounds good. I'm going to use the restroom before we go."

Elliot did a quick survey of the bathroom entrance not far from them by default before nodding himself. "Okay, I'll be right here." He pecked her lips again before watching her walk to the ladies room, always wanting to have her back in the event they came across something. Once she was inside, he quickly called Kathleen. "Hey honey, did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Not great, but better than this morning." Kathleen huffed out. "People are really dumb sometimes."

Elliot chuckled. "Don't I know it." He cleared his throat. "Listen, I know this is a little last minute, but I was hoping you were free tonight. Something has been going on with work, and Liv could use a little extra family around. If you're busy, don't worry about it, but I thought I'd check. I know you love every chance to hang out with Liv and to get a free meal off your father."

Kathleen laughed. "Anything not to cook after today. I won't get home until six, but you have my key. Pack a bag to stay the night if you want. Let yourself in if you get there before me." She paused, biting her lip. "How bad is it, Dad? It takes a lot for Olivia to ask for anything."

"It's. . .my unit is investigating a guy that used to hang out with Lewis." Elliot admitted, knowing Kathleen knew the most about the situation out of all the kids. "Bell wanted to bring Olivia in as a witness, pull me in to find the guy and befriend him. It's pretty bad. But, you know Liv. She's stronger than anybody needs to be. The only thing she wants is a family dinner."

"Who knew being with you would make her look forward to seeing more Stablers?" Kathleen chuckled. "You focus on Liv. Come over tonight. I'll reach out to everyone and see if we can get a dinner planned for Friday night."

Elliot sighed. "Thanks, Kathleen."

"Hello?" Kathleen called out into her apartment seeing the lights on.

"Hey!" Olivia greeted, popping around the corner to see her. "Your dad said it was okay to come in."

Kathleen grinned. "Of course! We're family." She set down her things before removing her jacket. "Where is my dad?"

Olivia smirked. "He and Noah decided to check out your rec room, again. The old arcade games are blowing Noah's mind and making your father feel nostalgic." She walked back into the kitchen with Kathleen following. "Your dad got the works though. We've got burgers, pasta, tacos, fried chicken."

"Did you guys stop at every fast food joint between your place and mine?" Kathleen laughed, seeing the brand names on plastic bags and containers.

"I felt bad dropping in on you, so I wanted to get you options," Olivia admitted before scanning the counter again, "and leftovers for the week."

Kathleen sat down at her island, shaking her head. "I love that you guys wanted to come over. After the day I've had, I was more than happy to have some company to come home to." She bit her lip, studying the woman she considered a second mother. "Dad mentioned it's been a little tense with work."

Olivia crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back against the counter behind her. "To say the least. Ayanna kind of cornered me with a case connected to Lewis. I was blindsided, and your father was-"

"My father." Kathleen concluded with a nod.

"Yeah," Olivia sighed with a shrug. "He was pissed how everything went down. Called us both out of work for the week, but that hasn't stopped the phone calls." She shook her head. "So, I decided I needed time with people I love and who will help keep your dad calm. I know he's trying to relax for me, but he's been a massive knot of tense muscles every moment he thinks about it."

Kathleen ran a hand through her hair. "He loves you. He feels guilty for this."

Olivia scratched above her eyebrow. "I know. I just hope he doesn't run himself ragged with his guilt. I've forgiven him for leaving. He knows that. He also knows I don't blame him for Lewis, but he blames himself because he wasn't there."

"He'll always feel guilty. As long as he has you though, he'll have someone to remind him it's in the past." She smiled softly. "Oh!" She rushed back to the door, grabbing one of the bags she'd carried in upon arrival before rejoining Olivia. "I almost forgot I stopped by your favorite bakery on my break." She lifted up the bag, setting it on the counter to reveal the box of mini bundt cakes inside. "All three flavors."

Olivia grinned. "Have I told you that you're my favorite."

"I thought I was your favorite." Elliot pouted, rounding the corner with Noah rushing from his side to Kathleen's.

"You're my favorite bald man." Olivia replied, laughing when Elliot's pout deepened.

Elliot joined her behind the island, wrapping his arm around her waist as she started pulling out takeout boxes. "For your information, I'm thinning."

Noah chuckled climbing into the seat next to Kathleen. "You're like the king from Spongebob where everyone yells out bald when they remove his crown."

Elliot frowned as Kathleen snorted through a burst of laughter. "If that was meant to be an insult, it isn't. I haven't watched Spongebob."

"Now, we know what movie we're watching tonight." Kathleen smirked, pounding Noah's knuckles with hers when he held out his fist.

Olivia grinned, helping the two dish up. "El, honey, to give you credit, you didn't have much hair when we met. Your mullet days were long before you met me." She giggled when he shook his head as if he was letting his past mullet catch a passing breeze before catching Kathleen's disturbed gaze. "We were the feathered hair era. I used to look like a brunette poodle."

"My sister used to call my mullet a ferret." Elliot smiled.

"So, we're what? Foodles?" Kathleen cocked an eyebrow, earning a snicker from Noah.

Olivia shook her head with a grin as Elliot wrapped his arms around her from behind and addressed his daughter. "Don't be ridiculous. Obviously, you guys are perrets."

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