Prompt #99: Office Holiday Party

The Merriest Holiday Party

~oOo~

He thinks the yearly Holiday Party at the 1-6 has been a tradition since his first year. That was the best year. Remembering, he was across from Munch, she was across from Stabler, Cassidy was, well... Cassidy, and of course, Cragen. They had this tiny tree that Stabler must have brought in. It was decorated with crime scene tape and other random items from around the precinct and topped with an unused takeout coffee cup Liv had brought in one day. That year, it was just the squad enjoying downtime with each other and Wo Hop. He knows, though, that this year will top that because his best friend will finally get everything she has ever deserved.

He steps away from the rest of the squad, who are all on decorating duty, to call Ayanna.

"Bell."

"Yo, everything's still a go, right?"

"Yes, Fin. He's set to touch down at JFK around 7:30 pm, so he should be at the 1-6 no later than 9:30 pm."

"Kathleen pickin' him up?"

"Yep. Look, I've got it all handled. I know how important this is."

"I just want to surprise her. She has been wearing that damn compass around for months and clutching onto it like it's her lifeline."

"I know. We've all noticed. This has to be the moment that pushes them together finally, right?"

"You have no idea how often I have thought that over the years."

"Well, my money is on it."

"Bet! Let me get back to setting this party up before she gets suspicious."

As the Sergeant headed back into the conference room, he was unaware of the set of eyes on him coming from his Captain's office. Standing in her office watching her squad prepare for the yearly Holiday Party, she couldn't help but think about Elliot. The closer to Christmas, the harder it was to push any thoughts of his return out of her mind. She was thinking of the cheap ornament from the McCanns that now said 'Liv, Love, Laugh', she was sure he was carrying around with him wherever he was. She remembered the day in May when she saw him last, promising him that she would try and find happiness. Absentmindedly rubbing the compass that lays heavy on her chest, right above her heart, between her index finger and thumb, she is sure that happiness is Elliot Stabler, and it always has been.

She is startled from her thoughts by a knock on the door. "Hey Cap, We're all set. We are all gonna head out and change. We meetin' here for this thing at 8 pm, right?"

"Yeah, Fin. Thank you for getting everything set up. Thank everybody else for me! I'm heading out soon to get Noah and change myself."

"Be safe, Cap. See ya later."

"Will do."

Losing herself in an email storm that McGrath decided to fire off, she looked up sometime later, noticing the time. Gathering her things, she rushed toward the elevator. By the time she got home to relieve Martha, it was already 6:30 pm. Walking through the door and dropping her bag on the counter, she said, "Hello Martha, how was everything?"

"Noah was good as usual. He says he has no homework for over the weekend. His bag is packed to stay with the Carisis."

"Thank you so much, Martha. Have a great weekend."

"You as well!"

Locking the door behind Martha and turning to find Noah standing behind her. "Hello, sweet boy, how was your day?"

Hugging her, Noah replies, "Hi, Mom, it was good. It's so close to the holidays that we aren't doing anything in class."

She heads towards her room. "I bet you don't mind that. We need to start getting ready for the Holiday party at the precinct, okay?"

Noah jumps before her, blocking the way to her room. "Yeah, about that. I picked out your outfit this year so we could kind of match. Is that okay?"

Feeling the start of tears in her eyes, she grabs him into a tight hug. "Of course, my sweet boy! Get dressed. I need to shower and see what you've picked out for me."

Bounding back down the hallway with excitement he said, "Okay, mom! Hurry up, though. We don't want to be late!"

As her son wishes, she finally makes it into her bedroom, where she sees Noah's chosen outfit for her to wear. The new navy-blue Giorgio Armani tab front V-neckline dress was a guilty purchase of hers during a shopping trip with Kathleen and Lizzie last month. For shoes, Noah has laid out a pair of leather Stuart Weitzman pumps in the perfect shade to match her skin tone. Her son has forgone digging through her lingerie, which she is thankful for. She has mixed feelings about wearing this dress tonight. She had bought it and, unbeknownst to anyone else, matching lingerie to go with it for him.

She's not a conceded person, but she knows she looks really damn good in this dress, so her first thoughts were his reaction. Laying out the lingerie that she bought to go with the dress, she convinces herself that she will wear it another time for him.

After quickly taking a shower, adding a few fresh curls to her hair, and deciding on a mostly natural makeup look aside from a bright red lip, she finally stepped out of her bathroom, ready to get dressed.

"Moooooooom, hurry up! We're going to be late."

"Noah, give me 10 minutes. I'm getting dressed now."

Slipping into the gorgeous lace and shiny satin bustier with underwire and the matching thong, she could only think about Elliot. Her thoughts continue as she slips the navy-blue Armani over her naturally tan legs, hips, and breasts. She slowly zips the back, thankful she can reach the zipper without the assistance of her son. She decides on gold hoops and her compass necklace before slipping into her heels and stepping out to greet her son.

"Woah, mom! You look amazing." Bouncing excitedly, Noah continues, "Everyone is gonna freak out!"

Eyeing him suspiciously now but ignoring his comment. "Thank you, sweet boy. Are you ready?"

"Yep. I'm so excited."

"Mmmhmmm, grab your coat. Let's go."

She and Noah are out the door by 7:45 pm, which is not early enough. They make it to the precinct at 8:15 pm. Stepping off the elevator, they are greeted by Christmas music playing, all of OCCB with their family members, and her entire squad with their family members. She and Noah step off the elevator, and he immediately takes off towards Fin. Shaking her head, she goes to her office to remove her coat and join the party. Stepping out of her office, all eyes of both squads turn to her and freeze in amazement. She hears Noah lean over and whisper to Fin, "See, I told ya!"

"Yeah, kid. I know. I just haven't seen her like this in a long time."

Olivia clears her throat, noticing she has gotten everyone's attention by Noah's choice of outfit. "I suppose now is a good time to welcome everyone to the 1-6 for our annual Holiday Party. Usually, only the Special Victims Unit is gathered for this event; however, this year, we asked the Organized Crime Unit to join our fun. Thank you to my squad and Sergeant Tutuola for assisting with all the arrangements and decorations. Please eat, dance, and drink responsibly. You are in a police precinct. Have fun, and thank you all for sharing your Holiday with us!" She finishes her short speech to wolf whistles and applause.

Turning, she sees Ayanna approaching. "Captain, if I may say, you look…hot."

With a raised eyebrow and teasing tone, she replies. "Sergeant, are you hitting on me?"

"Liv, if I were hitting on you, you would know it. Plus, I wouldn't want a brooding Elliot on my hands when he returns."

Both bursting into laughter at the thought. Grabbing some food and going through her second glass of cab-sav, she sits at a table with Fin, Phoebe, Jet, Amanda, and Carisi, watching Noah try to teach Jesse and Billie some trending TikTok dance. Phoebe approaches the subject. "Jet, how's Stabler doing?"

At this, Olivia's attention peaks, and Jet tenses, hating that she is deceiving the Captain in any way. "He's doing okay. I can't say much about it, though. You know how it is."

Amanda chimes in, "Liv, have you heard from him lately?"

She takes a long drink, finishes off her cab-sav, and absentmindedly grasps the compass around her neck, "No, the last text was about a month ago. I need a refill." Standing to get herself another drink, she walks away from the group.

Amanda looks to Fin. "Think she's ready for this? Like finally ready to have something real with Stabler, or are we making a mistake here?"

"I know she's ready. I can see it. I've seen them dance around this for 25 years."

"I'm just saying, remember the last time you tried to surprise her with him returning."

Jet says, "That was completely different, wasn't it? They hadn't spoken in like ten years then, right?"

Phoebe narrows her eyes towards Amanda. "Right."

Carisi breaks the tension. "Hey, okay, let's all remember this is for Liv and just prepare ourselves for it to potentially not go well in case she needs us."

All are nodding in agreement as Olivia is rejoining the group.

Sensing the tension before she even sits, she asks, "What happened?"

Fin jumps to answer. "Nothing, Liv. We were talking about how big the kids are getting."

"They are growing up so fast. Noah will be in middle school next year."

Looking at everyone sitting at the table, Phoebe chimes in, "Let's go dance with them," grabbing Fin's hand and dragging him off. Amanda grabs Carisi's hand, dragging him off to join the couple while Jet eyes the Captain. She says, "I would ask you to dance, but I believe Bruno is about to beat me to it."

As Bruno approaches, there's only one person she can think of—Elliot—but he isn't here.

"Cap, care to dance?"

With hesitation, she answers, "I suppose, but under one condition, you don't call me Cap while we do it."

At Olivia's words, Jet spews her drink all over the table. "Sorry! I took that statement completely wrong. Continue, I'm not here."

Trying to ignore the stares from her friends, she joins Bruno on the dance floor. His hand finds her waist quickly, maybe too easily, as her left hand falls onto his shoulder, and their right hands meet. They start swaying to the music; he leans in, lips barely an inch from her ear, "You look beautiful, Liv."

Shocked at his statement, she only hums a quiet, "Thank you," as she feels him pull her closer to him. Okay, she thinks, this may have been a mistake.

Unbeknownst to her, while she is dancing with Bruno, Ayanna has pulled Fin to the elevator. "Kathleen just texted. They're pulling in now. What are we doing about that?"

"Shit, I have no idea. I can't cut in. She will get suspicious."

"Well, this won't be good."

The elevator dings, catching Fin and Ayanna's attention, but no one else seems to hear it over the music. Turning, she greets Elliot and Kathleen. "Detective Stabler, welcome home."

"Thanks, Sarge. She still doesn't know I'm coming, right?"

Fin speaks up then. "Ummm, no. Stabler, keep your calm. She is currently dancing with Bruno."

That was all he needed to hear. Elliot pushes past his Sergeant and Fin, rushing towards the large conference room where everyone else is. Sharing a knowing look, Kathleen, Ayanna, and Fin quickly hurry after him only to find him standing at the conference room door staring at her while she is still dancing with the other detective.

"Man, she's just dancing with him. It doesn't mean shit to her."

"No. Yeah, I know. That's not why I stopped. Look at her. She's breathtaking, and I just needed a second."

With tears in his eyes, Fin claps him on the back. "Go get your woman, and if you leave her again, I'll kill you."

"I couldn't leave her again. I don't have the strength to. Thanks, Fin, for everything."

Now, all eyes are on him as he steps through the door, but he can't see anything but her. It's always been her, and it will always be her. Walking up behind her, he can see how her body tense; she knows he is there.

He speaks then. "Can I cut in?"

She turns so fast it makes her dizzy. "El-"

Smirking and with a glistening in his eyes, he says, "Merry Christmas, Liv."

She has tears in her eyes now. "How? When?"

"It's done. I just got off the plane and came straight here." Grabbing the compass between his thumb and index finger, he looks into her eyes and says, "I came straight home."

Breathlessly, she says, "Home. It worked, you know. It led me to happiness."

"Oh yeah."

Noticing the concern in his eyes, she moves the hand resting on his shoulder while they've been dancing to his face, stopping their movements. She raises her other hand to join the one already resting on his face. Now, cupping his face in her hands, she gets lost in his bright blue eyes. "I'm ready, El."

"Liv."

She pulls his face towards hers, and his lips meet hers; it's soft at first, hesitant, and then his tongue grazes her bottom lip, asking permission for entrance. She never wants to stop kissing him. Nipping, tugging, tongues tangling with all the fire of a 25-year love story coming together, finally. Pulling apart only to breathe, they are made all too aware of their audience, removed from their trance in each other by Fin.

"Finally! I got some phone calls to make. Munch and Cragen owe me some cash!"

Suddenly, Carisi is toasting. "Before Fin steps away to make his phone calls and the new couple escapes, I just want to say, Liv, you deserve all the happiness in the world, and we're glad you finally found it. Merry Christmas!"

"Thank you, Carisi. This was a huge surprise, for sure. Noah, did you have something to do with this?"

"Yeah! Uncle Fin told me all about it. I was so afraid I was going to slip and tell you. That's why I picked your outfit. I knew Elliot would love it!"

"Thank you, sweet boy. You have fun at Aunt Amanda's and Uncle Sonny's."

"I will, Mom. I love you!"

"I love you too, my sweet boy."

"Bye, Elliot!"

"Bye, kid. Thanks for all your help."

"Anything for my mom."

Olivia turns to Elliot with want and desire in her eyes. "So I have an empty apartment for the night, a nice bottle of red, and what I have on under this dress is much sexier."

He puts her coat over her shoulders and grabs her purse as they enter the elevator. "Give me the keys, Olivia."

She pulls him in for another kiss. "See, I was right all those years ago; you do carry my purse for me."

Laughing, he shakes his head. "You're gonna kill me, woman."

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