A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! This is related to the last two chapters (Hostage Situation at SVU and Hank's Recovery). I don't own any of the characters.

Holiday

Olivia was glad that she had the girls there to help with everything. Hank was still taking it easy and they were having quite a few people for Christmas. The Olinskys were coming back and Trudy and Mouch were coming in as well. Don and Eileen were coming over and so were Munch, Melinda, Trevor, Casey, Alex, Rafael, Lucia, Phoebe, Fin, Carisi, Amanda, Beth Anne and the 3 kids, Ed, Patty and the boys and some of the Stablers, which included Kathleen, Dickie, Eli and Bernie. Christmas Eve had been the family, the Olinskys and Trudy and Mouch. Trudy and Meredith had come over a few hours early to help Olivia, Erin and Olive with dinner.

"Thank you both so much for coming over."

"No problem."

"I'm not sure what I was thinking when I invited all these people."

"You can't go wrong with pasta."

"Olive made two huge lasagnas before bed last night. Carisi said he'd bring something and so did Lucia Barba. We have to make mac and cheese because that's what Billie and Mason like. Noah does too but he loves Olive's lasagna."

"Daniel eats pretty much anything."

"He's like his grandpa."

The doorbell rang, so Noah went to answer it. He looked to see who it was first. It was Rafael and Lucia.

"Feliz Navidad, Uncle Rafa and Mrs. Barba!"

"Feliz Navidad, Noah!"

Rafael and Lucia walked in and then headed straight for the kitchen.

"I made macaroni and cheese. I know it's not what the kids like but mine is better than that."

"Thank you so much, Lucia."

Rafael set the tray down on the counter and took Lucia's coat. He then came back into the kitchen.

"This is Trudy Platt. Trudy, this is Rafael Barba and his mother Lucia."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too. I've heard a lot about you, Sergeant Platt."

"Nothing good, I'm sure."

"All good."

They heard the doorbell again and then Amanda and Carisi came into the kitchen.

"Hey, Liv, Merry Christmas."

"You too. The girls and Mason are already with Noah and Daniel, I assume."

"The girls are. Mason was running a fever, so he and Mama won't be here. Jesse stayed with Declan last night and Billie saw Al for a little bit yesterday too."

"How'd things go with Declan?"

"Actually, pretty well. Now that he's back in New York, we're workin' out a visitation schedule."

"Good. Did you bring Frannie?"

"Of course. She went to introduce herself to Mouch."

"No doubt they'll hit it off."

"Daniel still wants a cat or a dog. He loves spending time with Frannie when we're here and he loved Tuesday the last time we were at the fire station in Chicago."

"Noah was hinting about wanting a pet too. I told him Hank and I would discuss it."

"I told Daniel I'd think about it too."

"Are you more of a cat or dog person?"

"I like either. Cats are easier to leave for extended periods of time. If we were coming here, we'd bring it with us though. If we got a dog, I'd want one that I'd be able to keep with us on the plane."

"That makes sense."

"Frannie adjusted well to the girls. It was just us for a while. I got her shortly before I came up here. She hasn't had to chase down any perps for a while either."

"I don't think I heard this story."

"I'm the one that brought William Lewis to the Precinct. Frannie is the one that chased him down."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, Liv."

"It's ok. I've been better but I did go to see Dr. Lindstrom after what happened recently. I've gone to see him multiple times since Elliot came back into my life."

Then Fin came in with a vegetable tray and Ed had a tray of cookies.

"At the time I was being held by Lewis, I wondered what Elliot would have done to him. I'm the one that saved myself from that. Do you remember the case involving West and Quinn when West was raping drunk and disorderly women and Cassidy had to work undercover in order to get his shield back?"

"I remember that."

"I knew you would. It was your idea."

"Yeah, I remember that too. Manda was so convincing, she scared me."

"Thanks, Fin."

"West was married but he and Quinn were still close as partners but she had hoped for more. She was figuring he would have eventually left his wife for her. That conversation made me realize that I could have been that person but I didn't want to be. I never would have hurt Kathy though. I never wanted to be the reason his family broke up. Anyone that worked with him knew they were having problems for a while and they had gotten back together by the time Eli was born."

"He always had to bitch about somethin'. That's for sure and he always did have a high opinion of himself."

"He don't think respect me enough, especially now."

"Let me tell you somethin'. You clearly are not the same person you were when he was with SVU. I think it was after Cragen retired, you were in charge of SVU and even after the Lewis investigation when I started seeing you differently. I also started seeing SVU in a different light after that case that involved my dumb ass cousin."

"You arrested most of us."

"Unfortunately, never Stabler but I wanted to. He hasn't changed in 10 years. The first time we had a case with Organized Crime, he immediately started in with me and acted like he was the one in charge. I could never understand how you were partners with him as long as you were."

"Some days, I don't either especially with his ego. He tried messing up this last case we worked on with Intelligence. He jumped in when it was suggested that someone pose a married couple. I wanted it to be with Hank, since he is my husband. He then said that was his favorite thing when we worked together and he had hoped that would be reality very soon."

"It was always about him."

"Yep."

Mostly everyone went into the living room, so Olivia could greet everyone else that had come in. The doorbell rang again, so she went to get it. It was the Stablers.

"Merry Christmas!"

"You too. I'm glad some of you could be here."

"Maureen and Elizabeth send their love. We all had our Christmas last night."

"Olivia, this is beautiful."

"Thank you."

Olivia introduced the Stablers to everyone they hadn't met and then she went to get the vegetable tray and cheese and crackers, since she knew the kids were hungry. Frannie had to check everyone out.

"How are you feeling, Hank?"

"Better. Thanks."

"Liv, can you talk about what happened?"

"Casey, you know what happened."

"Yeah, I know and we all pretty much know about what happened with William Lewis but you still have a hard time with that."

Olivia told everyone exactly what had happened that day in her office.

"Olivia."

"Yes."

"Am I a terrible person for wanting to blame Dad for what happened to Mom?"

"Not at all, Eli. I still don't get how that case ended up being SVU's problem. I get that it was kind of personal for some of us but car bombings are not our thing. Don't get me wrong. I cared about Kathy very much."

"We know you did and we don't blame you for any of it. All of a sudden we're back in New York and someone has to kill Mom. A part of me also thinks Dad got what he deserved."

"My life was much less complicated before he came back into it. Like I have told your sisters and brother, I never wanted to be the reason your family got broken up. Nothing ever happened between us and nothing ever would have happened between us no matter how hard he tried. My track record with men with the NYPD isn't very good to begin with and every time I get involved with someone with the NYPD, it comes back and bites me in the behind. It did with Brian Cassidy and it did with Ed. I'm not exactly sure what happened with Brian but at least Ed and I are still friends and he's a big part of my life. When he and I were together, I was still trying to figure out how I felt about Hank. It was hard enough being in a long distance relationship with Hank but Hank respects me and he has never been intimidated by the fact that I've been promoted twice since we met. I'm just glad Elliot didn't get promoted to run Organized Crime. He'd let it go to his head for one and for two, he wouldn't have deserved it. Fin and I have both worked for our promotions."

"You definitely have and I couldn't be prouder of you both."

"I second that."

"Thank you both so much."

"I second what Liv said."

"As much as I loved working with both Cragen and Munch, Liv is a great boss. I know I've gotten more chances than I deserve at times."

"I think we all have, especially from IAB."

"What happened with me was all a set up no thanks to my sister."

"When I was arrested for a murder I didn't commit, someone I had arrested previously had made it look like it was me."

"Elliot accused me of messing up the testing. You were the one that asked me to run your DNA in the first place."

"I know I was. When all this happened with Elliot recently, he had the nerve to tell me I owed him for getting me out of jail that time."

"He didn't?"

"Oh yeah. He did. I'm actually glad that Hank and I had already had a date set for our wedding before Elliot returned because he would have tried ruining it for me."

"It actually helped that you didn't get married here."

"Oh yeah, I know. When Hank had taken me on that dinner cruise on Lake Michigan when we had first gotten together, I decided that was what I wanted when we got married. I wasn't expecting to have as much of a turnout from my friends here but I'm glad everyone made the trip to Chicago."

"We were more than happy to be there and I was so honored that you had asked me to walk you down the aisle."

"You were the dad I never had."

"I wanted to make sure you actually got married."

"Thanks a lot, John!"

"I'm glad I wasn't the only one. Man, I miss workin' with ya, Munch!"

"Same goes for me, Fin."

"Olivia, do you have pictures?"

"Of course we do."

Olivia got up and went to get the album with the wedding pictures and handed it to Kathleen, so the Stablers could look at it.

"These are amazing. Who took the pictures?"

"Carisi mostly and there are a lot of pictures. These were just the ones we printed out. He put them on CDs. One disk is just pictures of me and Hank, one is with the wedding party, one is with just the family, one is with all the kids, one is all the New York people and the other one is all the Chicago people. It made it a little easier to go through the pics. We took the more formal ones during the cruise itself and the more laid back ones were along the lakefront."

"You looked beautiful."

"Thanks."

"So, Liv, how's Fin as a #2?"

"He has his moments. He didn't want to be my #2 though. I asked him to think about taking the Sergeant's exam when I took the Lieutenant's exam but he wasn't interested. Nick was though. When I told Ed that, he said there was no way Nick would have been promoted even if he had received a perfect score on the exam."

"It would have applied for Stabler too and if I had still been with IAB, he would not have been working in Organized Crime or anywhere else in the Department. Amaro and I were at least able to work out our differences."

"I never would have asked him to take the exam had he not just up and left. I knew before Elliot even left that you would eventually be my #2 once John retired even if Elliot had seniority over you. He couldn't handle it and the unit would be forever battling IAB."

"And some of us probably would have quit. I know I would have."

"Me too."

"That makes sense. At least you're both honest."

"I wouldn't want a Commanding Officer with an ego like he had."

"Dad definitely had an ego. Did you ever have feelings for him?"

"I loved him but it was the same way I love everyone that's in this room with exception of Hank and our family. We were best friends and partners for 12 years and I was heartbroken by the way he just up and left, so yes, I was going to feel something for him but not the way he apparently had feelings for me. I got over that hurt and I moved on. Your mom and I were friends and I've known all of you for a long time. I never wanted to be the reason their marriage broke up nor did I ever want to cross that line with him. He never cared about my feelings. He never cared that I wasn't interested in being in a romantic relationship with him. Everything was always about him and his feelings. I could actually see him being judgmental about my son's choice of activities because it'll make him too soft. In the time he's been back, he never once told me he was proud of me for everything I have accomplished in the last decade or asked about what I have been up to. Yet he's confessing his love for me when Kathy is barely dead and buried. He wasn't ready for another relationship. To me, it seemed like he was relieved she was gone, so we could be together, which wouldn't have happened whether I wasn't with Hank or not. Hank lost his first wife 4 years before we even met and he even though we're together now, he still misses her. I get that pain will never completely go away and I respect that. I want him to remember her on her birthday or their anniversary."

"How did your wife die?"

"She had ovarian cancer. I lost my son 5½ years ago when my grandson was only a year old."

"Oh wow! Sorry to hear that."

"Thanks."

Everyone continued talking for a while and then dinner was ready. They went to get their food and most of them stayed in the living room, while the kids ate in the kitchen. Hank, Sonny, Bernie and Olive stayed in the kitchen with the kids.

"How's she doing?"

"When she takes her meds, she does pretty well. She seemed to comprehend when we told her dad had died and what had happened. She said she figured his temper would eventually cost him his life. She wanted to come today."

"That's good."

Olivia got up and went to check on Hank.

"You ok, Honey?"

"I'm fine."

"Good."

Olivia kissed the top of Hank's head.

"He's a handsome one, Olivia."

"Thank you. Yes, he is."

"I'm sorry for what Elliot did to you."

"It's not your fault. He brought all this on himself."

"He brought most things on himself."

"Yes, he did."

Olivia went back to finish eating and then once they were done, Sonny helped clean up. They opened presents and then they had dessert. The Stablers left first. They hugged Olivia before they left.

"That went better than I expected it to."

"At least they don't blame you for what happened to Elliot."

"I'm glad for that and I am also glad we got through today without getting a call."

"That's always a good thing."

"Everything was delicious."

"Thanks, Carisi. Thanks for all your help."

"No problem."

"Liv, you off next week?"

"I'd like to take some time off to spend with my family. If you absolutely need me, I can come in."

"Hopefully it'll be quiet for the most part."

"New Year's Eve is always busy it seems."

"Yeah. True."

"So, Edward, when are you done?"

"The end of the year. I decided enough was enough. I've been doing this for about 100 years now anyway, so it's time."

"There is life after the NYPD."

"That's what I've heard. I'm lookin' forward to it."

"I've discovered that there's life after the Chicago Police Department as well."

"Meredith and I are lookin' forward to the next chapter in our lives as well."

"We sure are."

"Then you both leave me with the rest of the unit. Thanks a lot."

"You could always retire and move here too."

"You think Mouch is going to retire?"

"We can come here for a visit any time you want."

"That makes me feel better. I've known these two longer than I have known anyone."

"Yeah, I know. I feel the same way about Herrmann."

"How long are you two staying?"

"Until after New Year's. We leave next Sunday."

"Just like Olive and Daniel."

"Us too. We'll be back for our closing. Trevor, thank you for helping with that."

"No problem. I'm glad to help. If you have any questions before, give me a call."

"We will."

"What does this new place of yours look like?"

Meredith pulled it up online and showed Trudy and Mouch.

"I love it!"

"That's nice."

"Thanks. We won't be that from Hank and Olivia either."

"That'll be good."

The kids were getting sleepy, so Amanda and Sonny got the girls and Frannie and headed home. Then everyone else left as well. Hank had taken his medication before he went upstairs. Olivia and Olive got the boys to bed and then Olivia went to help Hank. Once he was settled, she went to get ready for bed. She got into bed with him and kissed him goodnight before they fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next week went by quickly. Work had been pretty quiet for Olivia, so she was able to spend some time with Olive and Daniel, Trudy and Mouch and the Olinskys before they headed home. Al and Meredith would be back soon and they'd see Olive and Daniel for Spring Break when the entire family was heading to Hawaii.

Reviews are appreciated.