Prompt #40: "So, who are the flowers from?"
Roses Are Red, Partners in Blue
~oOo~
There are some weeks when Olivia feels like she lives at the courthouse. When one trial gets delayed and another case's trial is just beginning; those are always weeks where she also ends up staying late at the precinct or gets woken up in the middle of the night to go to a crime scene. She is exhausted. When it rains…and this week it's pouring.
"Sorry I'm late," she says, rushing down the hall towards Fin, who falls into step next to her as they head for the courtroom.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, just…" She stops for a moment with her hand on the door and shakes her head. "Valentine's Day is apparently a lot more complicated in middle school than I remember."
"Shit," Fin mumbles, his face turning into a disgusted frown. "That today?"
Olivia's mouth quirks up on the side and she pushes the door open, letting them both into the room. "Yeah, Fin, it is."
~oOo~
"Mom, you don't understand!"
She was trying to understand, but they were both going to be late if he didn't pack his things and make a final decision on an outfit.
"Then explain it to me again. In detail."
Noah sighed, and even though her back was to him as she poured coffee into a travel mug, she knew he was rolling his eyes.
"I sent two candy grams–one to Jenny and another to Caleb–but then last night Sophia texted me and said that Caden sent one to me!"
"Okay…"
"And I didn't send one to Caden!"
Olivia was losing patience. She wanted to be supportive and figure out why this was a crisis, but she had to be in court in 45 minutes to testify. She needed to get her thoughts straight and this wasn't the way to do it. But she turned around and took in Noah's pleading eyes and the way he bit into one side of his lip, and she could tell how important this was to him.
"Baby, I don't know who Caden is, but from what I can put together here, it is a very big deal that he sent you a candy gram and you didn't send him one, right?"
A blush crept across Noah's cheeks and Olivia understood.
"Right. Is it too late to send him one?"
Noah nodded and she sighed, looking at her watch again.
"Let me text Fin. If you can get yourself ready in the next five minutes, we can swing by Dunkin Donuts and pick up one of the Valentine hearts for Caden. Do you think that would work?"
Noah bounced on his feet and threw his arms around her before running to his room.
He didn't get ready in five minutes and she was going to have to text Fin again, but the smile she saw on her son's face when he passed the donut to the curly brown-haired boy in front of the school made it all worthwhile.
And her own donut wasn't half bad either.
~oOo~
If she could nap at her desk, she would. Olivia's back aches and her hip is giving her trouble thanks to the unyielding cold that had blanketed the city earlier in the week. She's hoping she can hide in her office for a little while before the next crisis, interrogation, or phone call from the chief sucks her back into the action.
"DD5s, Fin," she tells him as he sits down at his desk and she continues walking past. "They should have been done last week."
"Valentine's Day," Fin says with a smirk. "Slows everything down."
Olivia shakes her head. "You didn't even know it was today until I told you." She reaches for the office door before adding, "And call Phoebe!"
She takes a breath once her door is closed, feeling at peace in the small sanctuary she'd created for herself. In the past year or so, she'd brought more personal effects to her office. She spends more time there than she does at home, and she'd found that a few pictures, a candle, and a soft blanket tucked away in a cabinet could make all the difference in keeping her sane.
She considers curling up on the couch and closing her eyes for a few minutes, but after hanging up her jacket, something catches her eye. She turns to her desk and smiles. Someone had placed a fairly large vase of flowers next to her laptop.
The arrangement isn't tall, but it's full and lush. A short round vase is wrapped in burlap and it's filled to overflowing with pink roses, lavender, larkspur, pale purple daisies, and eucalyptus, all surrounded by bright and shiny greenery.
It's beautiful.
Nothing about it screams Valentine's Day. There's no chocolate, no plastic stick tucked among the blooms announcing the holiday. A dozen red roses delivered to her office would have made her cringe. She'd never been a fan of overt and traditional displays of affection, but this, she's embarrassed to admit, feels really nice. It feels normal, and normal is something she doesn't usually get to experience. It's something she usually shies away from, but this particular bouquet of flowers makes normal okay. They are what she would have selected herself, some of her favorites, and she knows they will look perfect in the center of her kitchen table.
Olivia leans forward to smell a rose before plucking the small white envelope out of the bouquet. She runs her finger under the heart sticker that seals it, and removes the card.
It reads, Tonight.
~oOo~
"Plans for tomorrow?" Elliot asked as he buried his nose into her neck, nuzzling her skin as he liked to do.
They were in bed, awake far later than either of them should have been considering how early they both had to be at work in the morning. But Elliot had called her just after eleven and asked if he could come over. He'd had a long day, and of course, so had she, so the answer was yes. The answer was always yes these days.
She pulled him closer to her, not wanting to send him home to his own apartment, even if that was their standard arrangement until she was comfortable with Noah waking up to a man in their home.
"Court in the morning," she said, trying to mentally run through her schedule. "I have a meeting with McGrath that I'm trying to get out of. Suspects, paperwork…"
"I didn't mean at the precinct."
Olivia shifted, trying to lock her eyes on his, which was proving difficult when he was so close. His hand slid idly across the naked skin of her stomach as he offered her a smirk. She narrowed her gaze and raised an eyebrow.
"Valentine's Day." His smirk had turned to a full smile while she filled with dread and panic.
She'd completely forgotten. She would have been hard pressed to figure out the date at all, to be completely honest. The past weeks had been a blur of missing girls, fentanyl labs, and the brass breathing down her neck. Hearts and flowers were the furthest thing from her mind.
"Shit."
Elliot let out a little laugh as she started to mumble apologies. "Liv, you don't have to apologize. We aren't kids. I don't need a teddy bear or something. It was just a question."
She pulled away from him and rolled onto her side so she could see him better. She felt timid all of a sudden. Their relationship, this newest iteration of their twenty-five year bond, was still new. She remembered Valentine's Days over their years as partners and how he had spent them with Kathy and the kids. She didn't know what he expected for this year, what he expected from her, and she was suddenly worried she would mess this all up.
"What do you want to do?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper because it was all she could manage.
Elliot reached out and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Anything, if it's with you," he said, his blue eyes searching her face. "I just wanted to know if you had anything in mind. But we could get dinner, or spend the night here with Noah?"
She sucked in a breath. Noah. They didn't have any Valentine's Day routine, per se, but she usually did something for him. And she had nothing up her sleeve at all this year. She was dropping the ball on all fronts.
"Liv," Elliot said, like he knew what was running through her mind, and pulled her into his embrace. "Stop thinking. I've got this."
"You going to tell me what this is, exactly?"
He squeezed her tighter. "Nope."
~oOo~
Olivia squints out the window of the SUV through the dark and freezing rain at the dilapidated apartment building across the street. There's a pizza place to its left and a barber shop on the right. The block is busy, making it harder to keep track of who was coming and going than she'd like it to be.
"You see Sanchez?" she asks Fin as she cranes her neck to look further down the street.
"Not yet."
This guy is like a ghost. They'd been trying to locate him all day to no avail. Bruno had finally managed to get in touch with Sanchez's girlfriend, who was convinced he was seeing her friend on the side. The girlfriend apparently lives in the building they are staking out, but Olivia's starting to question the validity of that information.
"It's been an hour," she mumbles in frustration.
"Got somewhere to be, Cap?" Fin asks, but she ignores him. It's after five and she still has paperwork to complete before she can head home. Elliot was being very mysterious about what they would be doing that night, but she knows he's planning something.
Fin makes a sound like he knows she's keeping something from him. "So, who are the flowers from?"
Olivia works to keep her smile in check. "I'm surprised it took you this long to ask."
Her gaze stays out the window, tracking the people walking in and out of the pizza place.
"Not going to tell me, are you?"
"No, I am not." Fin grumbles but before he can say anything, she cuts him off. "Did you ever call Phoebe?"
"Liv."
The change in his voice makes her turn. He's pointing out the window, and there at the bodega on the corner is Sanchez.
She reaches for the door handle. "Let's move."
~oOo~
It was unseasonably warm for February. The snow from the week before had melted away, leaving puddles along the curbs, but the sun was bright and warm. It was a nice break from the otherwise bitter winter they'd been experiencing.
Olivia stood outside of the bodega, next to the bouquets of flowers that lined the store front, soaking in the sun while Elliot waited for their sandwiches inside. Her eyes were closed as she breathed in the smell of roses and something else. She tried to focus, figure out what the other scent was, but after a few moments she gave up and opened her eyes.
She walked along the row of bouquets, most of them pink and red for Valentine's Day. Olivia was secretly a flower person. If asked, she would probably deny it, say she didn't need them, that it was a waste to buy something that would die in less than a week. She didn't have time for romance, and she was hardly ever home, so it wasn't like she was going to buy them for herself either.
But they did make her happy. She loved when spring came and Central Park filled with cherry blossoms. She loved when flowers pushed through the dirt patches along the streets when the weather warmed up. She even liked the idea of someone having an arrangement delivered to her for a special occasion.
She almost laughed. That wasn't going to happen any time soon. She was married to the job, more so lately than she'd ever been. She couldn't remember the last time she'd even been on a date. She worked her cases, showered and slept in her apartment, and went back to the precinct. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Olivia bent forward, burying her nose in one of the bouquets. Stargazer lilies. That was the smell. They reminded her of funerals, but out there in the sun, they almost smelled nice.
"Buying some flowers?" Elliot asked as he pushed the door open, the bell jingling against the glass.
"What am I going to do with flowers?" she asked, even though a part of her wanted to buy every single one. "You should buy some. For Kathy. Tomorrow's Valentine's Day."
"Shit."
Olivia smiled and shook her head. Poor Kathy would never receive a single gift if Olivia didn't keep track for her partner. She knew how important his marriage was to him; he was just terrible at remembering dates.
"Hold these?" he asked, passing the sandwiches into her hands. He grabbed the bouquet closest to his side without bothering to look at what was in it. "I'll be right back. You're a lifesaver, Liv."
~oOo~
It's ten to seven, but Olivia is finally free to head home. They'd brought in Sanchez without incident, and he'd only made it ten minutes in the interrogation room before he confessed. If only all cases could be that easy.
She pulls her phone from her pocket and shoots a quick text to Elliot to let him know she's heading out. She can't help wondering what he's got up his sleeve. She'd tried to get information out of Noah when she called him after school. He gave her nothing. He could be tougher than a perp waiting for a deal when he wanted to keep a secret. Especially when in kahoots with Elliot.
Olivia tucks a few files into her bag along with her laptop and the book of daily affirmations that she rarely remembers to open, and slips her phone back into her pocket. She looks at the flowers on her desk and briefly thinks about leaving them there so she can enjoy them for the rest of her work week, but they're too beautiful. She wants to take them home so Elliot can see them and show her that proud look he wears when he knows he's done something to make her happy.
She adjusts her bag on her shoulder and scoops the vase into her arm, leaving her right hand free to open the door. The squadroom is quiet and she sends up a silent prayer that it stays that way.
"You staying all night?" she asks Fin as she nears his desk.
"Nah, I got somewhere to be."
Olivia raises a brow.
"Meeting Phoebe for dinner in a half hour."
She smiles and gives him an approving nod. "Good. Enjoy your night."
She starts towards the elevator when she hears Fin call out to her.
"Still not going to tell who sent you those flowers?"
He knows. He knows they're from Elliot, and they both know that he knows, but she's not ready to admit it just yet. She's happy keeping Elliot all to herself. There will be a time when their relationship is out in the open, but for now, she's happy to leave her sergeant to draw his own conclusions.
She gives him a smile and shakes her head. "Good night, Fin."
~oOo~
"You heading out?"
Olivia looked up from the file on her desk. Elliot stood in front of her with three teddy bears in his arms.
"Nothing for Dickie?" she asked, a smile playing across her lips.
"He'd rather be caught dead than receive a Valentine's Day gift from his father."
Olivia nodded and looked back down at the file. She was trying to find a needle in a haystack. Someone else had to have gone into their victim's hotel room, but they'd already excluded everyone. Her mind was spinning, trying to gasp the missing piece that was just out of reach.
"Seriously, Liv," Elliot said, pulling her attention back to him. "You're not planning on staying here all night, are you? It's Valentine's Day."
She lifted an eyebrow and he shrugged. They both knew she didn't have anywhere to be. Elliot was the one who celebrated holidays like this. He had a family to be with on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. She was the one who worked so that he could be with them. It was their arrangement, her unspoken role in their partnership.
"I won't," she said simply. "I'm just trying to figure out where that hair came from. I'll give it another hour, two tops, and then I'll go home."
Not that there was anything exciting waiting there for her. She could have found herself a date, called one of the numbers she kept in her phone for just such an occasion, but her heart wasn't in it.
She looked up at Elliot and imagined him heading to the house in Queens to bring gifts to his kids. He kept most things about his relationship with Kathy to himself, but she knew they were trying to at least be cordial. It wasn't perfect, but it was more than she had.
Elliot's expression was unreadable for a moment before he nodded and took a step toward the elevators. "Well, gotta go see the kids."
He paused, his eyes locked on hers as the silence stretched between them.
"Have a good night, Liv."
"You too," she said, trying to keep her voice level. "See you tomorrow."
~oOo~
The first thing she hears when she walks into her apartment is laughter. Elliot's low rumble mixes with her son's excited giggle and she can't help but smile. She places her bag on the floor next to the door and the flowers on the side table before reaching down to take off her boots.
"I'm home!"
Noah comes running, and for a moment she sees him as he was when he was five or six, still young enough to be excited to see her and not yet old enough to be buried in his phone or a video game.
"We have dinner ready," he tells her, wrapping one arm around her waist. He seems entirely too excited, and she wonders if Elliot planned ice cream for dinner. Or the Big Macs that she rarely lets her kid eat.
"Do I smell bacon?" she asks, but Noah doesn't answer, just heads back towards the kitchen. She scoops the flowers back up into her arms and follows him through the apartment.
"Hey, Liv."
Elliot is standing in front of the stove and she watches as he lifts a frying pan, flipping a perfect, heart-shaped pancake through the air. Noah whips his head, curls bouncing as he moves. "Did you know he could flip pancakes?"
She cocks an eyebrow and smiles at her son before turning her surprised gaze back to Elliot, "No, I didn't."
"Hope you don't mind breakfast for dinner," he says, sliding a pancake onto a platter with the rest. "Noah said you make heart pancakes for Valentine's Day sometimes. Figured a tradition is a tradition."
It was hardly a tradition. She'd made those pancakes maybe two times over the years, but it must have stuck with Noah if he'd told Elliot about it. She watches as he pours batter expertly into the pan, making another heart before putting the pitcher back on the counter.
"Make a lot of pancakes in your life, detective?" she asks, placing the flowers on the table and walking to his side. She runs a hand along his back and he leans into her, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.
"I raised five kids," he says with a shrug. "Hard to have that many and not become an expert at making pancakes."
"How was your day?" she asks, hearing how domestic she sounds. She feels like a wife in a TV movie. Like Ginny McCann.
She doesn't hate it, though.
"Good," he says, flipping a pancaking in the air. "Sent my girlfriend flowers."
She makes a face. "Girlfriend? Aren't you a little old for a girlfriend?"
He doesn't answer, just snakes his arm around her waist and buries his face into her neck.
"Come on," Noah says, his voice full of preteen disgust at his mother and her boyfriend.
"Well your partner loved them," she says, picking up a plate of bacon and carrying it to the table. "Really, El. They're beautiful. Thank you."
He places the pancakes on the table along with a bottle of wine and two glasses before turning to Noah. "Hey, bud. You got syrup?"
"I'll get it!"
When he runs off to search the cabinets, Elliot leans toward her, mouth close to her ear. "You really like them?"
His breath tickles her skin, and while he's asking her about flowers, there's so much more that he's telling her. She can feel his happiness, his comfort, and his desire for her loud and clear.
"I do," she says, and she's flirting back over plates of pancakes and bacon. It's exactly how she wanted to spend Valentine's Day, even if she hadn't known it.
"Mom!" Noah whines when he catches them. They laugh, stepping out of the bubble they'd created around themselves and take seats at the table.
"Alright, sweet boy. Time to eat."
~oOo~
"So, who are the flowers from?" Elliot asked, tipping his chin toward the vase on the corner of her desk. It was tall and filled with blood red roses that made her cheeks color almost as bright whenever she looked at them.
Olivia shrugged, trying not to make a big deal of the showy arrangement. "Just some guy."
"Some guy," Elliot repeated, a smirk pulling at his lips. "Got a secret boyfriend, Benson?"
She smiled back, leaning into the banter that came so easily between them. They hadn't been partners for long, but they'd worked well together since practically day one. She didn't usually trust people so quickly, but Elliot was different. He was her partner.
"When would I have time for a boyfriend?"
Elliot shrugged. "Gotta go home sometime, right?"
Olivia shook her head and looked down at what she was working on. The flowers were from a guy she'd gone out with a handful of times. She'd slept with him the week before but was considering ending it. The guy apparently saw things differently.
What she'd said to Elliot was true, though; she didn't have time for a boyfriend. She was a junior detective and she wanted to climb the ranks.
And the victims… they deserved justice and she needed to get that for them.
"So, the flower guy," Elliot said, standing from his desk. "You two have Valentine's Day plans?"
The "flower guy" had asked her to call him, but a return call was unlikely. Going out with someone on Valentine's Day after he'd sent her flowers felt like a commitment, and not one that she was ready for with this particular guy.
She shrugged, leaving Elliot to wonder.
He stood from his desk and started to collect his things. "Well, I'm calling it. Promised Kathy I would take her out. Got a babysitter and everything."
"Wow, Stabler," Olivia said, leaning back in her chair. "Didn't know you were such a charmer."
He shrugged and picked up his jacket. "Don't let Munch keep you here all night. Maybe give that flower guy a call. I mean, it is Valentine's Day."
"The whole holiday was created by the greeting card companies to get them through the winter slump until the cash cow that is Mother's Day."
They both looked at Munch, who shrugged. "Do you know how much the chocolate companies rake in every February 14th?"
"Alright, we got it," Elliot said, lifting his hands in surrender as he headed toward the exit. "Have a good night!"
Olivia watched him leave and let herself imagine what it would be like to go home to someone, a family even, with kids waiting for you at the door. It was so far from her normal life that she could barely hold onto the image in her mind.
She looked up and plucked the card from the vase of roses, running her finger along the phone number before tossing it in the trash. Maybe one day she'd spend Valentine's Day with someone she loved, but for now, she needed to find their victim's killer. Everything else could wait.
The author of this SVU - Love Lead You Home story will be revealed in March