Prompt #59: Noah makes his mom another photo collage, but this year, it includes pictures of Elliot and the Stabler clan

You'll Always Be Family

~oOo~

The living room was dark, the only light came from the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree. Two cups of hot chocolate sat on the coffee table and The Santa Clause movie played on the TV. Noah was old enough now to know the truth about Santa Claus, but a plate of cookies and a small glass of milk sat on the end table near the tree.

"Mom?" Noah looked over at her.

"Yes?" She smiled over at him, his eyes looked tired. They always stayed up late on Christmas Eve to watch movies until they fell asleep. She remembered how Noah would want to sleep on the couch to try and catch Santa in the act. She sometimes missed when he was small.

"Can I give you one of your gifts early?" he asked softly.

"Of course, if you want to."

Noah excitedly jumped from the couch to grab one of the wrapped gifts from under the tree. "Here, Mama. Open it?" He handed over the red-wrapped gift, it even had a bow.

Olivia carefully unwrapped the gift and smiled softly to herself as it came into view. It was a collage, similar to the one he had made for her on Mother's Day, only this one wasn't just the two of them. She looked over the pictures, smiling and fighting back tears. In the center, there was a picture of her, Noah, and Elliot. Noah had insisted on taking the selfie a few weeks after Elliot had come back from his last undercover assignment. He had taken the two of them out for lunch and some shopping. Of course, Elliot hadn't said no to a single thing Noah had asked for that day.

Surrounding that main picture was some of her and Noah, but the majority featured at least one if not more of the Stabbler crew. A picture of Noah and Eli with gaming controllers in their hands; one of Noah, Kathleen, Lizzie, and herself from Noah's last dance recital; one with Noah and Bernie making cupcakes for Eli's birthday; and several others.

"Thank you, Noah." Liv couldn't help but let a few tears fall as she reached over to give her son a hug.

"It's our family. Kathleen was telling me the other day how happy she is that you're a part of her family again and that I am a part of it now too." Noah smiled proudly.

Liv felt another tear fall and hugged Noah again. "This is perfect. I think it would look great hanging on the wall, huh?" She stood and took the framed collage over to where an empty hook had been for a while.

"Looks great!" Noah said. "Hey, Mom." Noah's voice changed and he sounded nervous.

"What is it?"

"I also made a collage like that for Elliot, do you think he'll like it?"

"He'll absolutely love it, sweet boy."

Noah's smile was back and brighter. "We're still going over to Elliot's tomorrow for Christmas dinner right?"

"We are." Elliot had asked them last week to spend Christmas with him and his family. Olivia couldn't say no. Since he got back, Elliot was trying to prove to her he was sticking around. He respected that she needed time, but he was showing her he wanted to be back in her life. Olivia had slowly been opening up to him, almost feeling safe enough to let her walls crumble.

"We should get to sleep, so Santa can come."

Noah rolled his eyes and laughed. "Okay, Mom." They reclaimed their spots on the couch and kept their movie night going until they both fell asleep.

~oOo~

Oliva always spoiled Noah on Christmas and his birthday. After many years of her longing for a child, she couldn't help but make those two days extra special. Every gift that he had asked for that she was capable of getting him now sat unwrapped under the tree. Along with her collage, Noah had also gotten her a bracelet with his birthstone, she had her suspicions that Elliot or one of his kids had helped Noah pick out that one.

"Noah, are you ready to go?" she called out to him. It was a little after three o'clock, they planned to get to Elliot's around four.

Noah walked out of his room with a bag full of wrapped gifts and a smile on his face. "Ready."

"What are all those?" Olivia asked.

"Gifts for everyone!" Noah said proudly.

Olivia found out last night that Noah had planned on giving Elliot a gift, she had no idea her son had gifts for everyone.

"That's very sweet of you. Now put your coat, hat, and gloves on." She kissed his forehead before grabbing her own bag of gifts for the Stabbler clan.

On the ride, Noah talked about how he wanted to play video games with Eli and teach Lizzie his new dance move. He was so excited to exchange gifts, Liv wondered what he had gotten for everyone. Noah wasted no time jumping out of the car when it was parked, Olivia following after him.

"Hey!" Elliot greeted them at the door, ruffling Noah's curls and wrapping Liv in a hug.

Olivia couldn't hide her smile as she watched her son interact with everyone. She stood back to take it all in. This was all she had ever wanted if she would let herself take it. She watched curiously as Noah handed out his small, perfectly wrapped gifts to all Elliot's kids and mom. They unwrapped them to show the personalized, homemade ornaments he had made for all of them. Each one different to represent that person.

Now it was Noah's turn to be showered with gifts from the Stabbler's. Kathleen had gotten him a signed photo of one of his favorite dancers along with tickets to see him, Eli had gotten him a new video game so he'd have someone to play with, and of course, Elliot had gone above and beyond. Liv suspected he pulled some string with some friends overseas to get Noah the controller and headset that wasn't yet released here.

"Elliot!" Noah said excitedly, hugging the man. "Can I give you your gift now?!"

"Of course."

Liv could feel tears threatening to fall once again. Seeing Noah and Elliot get along so well made her heart feel full. She watched Noah hand him the gift, wrapped just like her own had been. She watched as Elliot looked it over, taking in every picture, and then his eyes turned to find hers. She gave him a small smile, she could tell he was feeling the same thing she had felt opening her own collage.

"Thank you, Noah, this is the best gift I have gotten." He gave the boy a hug. "Why don't you and Eli go try out that new controller, huh?"

Noah had happily skipped off with Eli and Elliot made his way over to her. "You have anything to do with that?"

"Not at all. He made me one too, told me he made you one and wanted to know if you'd like it. He said it's our family." Her eyes lifted to meet his.

"You've always been my family, Liv, you know that." He laced his fingers with hers. "You and Noah, you'll always be family."

The author of this SVU - Heart for the Holidays story will be revealed in January