A/N: This chapter is Christmas related. Hank and Olivia have been married since 2015 and they had a baby. Since Noah is around 12 on the show, he's 12 here too, so for this, she got him right after what happened with William Lewis. Noah finding out about Connor never happened. Amanda and Kat are still with SVU and Chief Garland is still around as well. Erin is with SVU and Hank's biological daughter. Antonio and Jay are still with Intelligence. Justin, Al and Ed are also still around. I don't own any of the characters except my own. There will probably be a second chapter for this.
Holiday Tradition
Hank had transferred to the NYPD in 2015 but had retired in June as a Lieutenant. Erin left Chicago when Hank did, so she could work with Olivia and met her husband Peter shortly after. Al retired from CPD the same time Hank retired from the NYPD and he and Meredith had moved to New York. Hank loved being able to spend more time with 12-year old Noah and 7-year old Serena and his and Olivia's 6 grandchildren: Justin and Olive's 4 kids, 8-year old Daniel, 5-year old Ethan and 2-year old twins Natalie and Ava and Erin and Peter's 5-year old twins, Zachary and Ellie. Natalie and Ava were the only ones not in school, so Hank spent time with them while everyone else was gone. Usually when Hank had errands to run, like going to the grocery store, Meredith would come over to watch Natalie and Ava, since they were usually all over the place. They didn't have Lucy anymore but she was now taking care of Jesse, Billie and Tony.
They had the tradition of having their family and friends over for a Holiday party and this year was no different. They still had the kids and grandkids there for the actual holiday. Hank had been out running errands and Al had gone with him, so Meredith was with the girls. The girls had gone down for their nap and Meredith was finishing up baking cookies when the doorbell rang. Meredith went to answer it. It was Ed.
"Hey, Ed."
"Hey. Does Hank need help with anything?"
"He and Alvin are out running errands. Natalie and Ava are taking their nap and I've got the cookies in the oven."
"Were Ava and Natalie any help?"
"They tried. I let them put the sprinkles on the sugar cookies."
"Is Hank still gettin' food for tonight?"
"They're Christmas shopping."
"I basically just finished mine too."
"Come on in."
"Thanks."
Ed took his coat and shoes off and then they went into the kitchen, so Meredith could check the cookies.
"Is Patty coming?"
"Yeah. She works until 4 but she'll come here after she goes home to change. What time does the flight from Chicago get here? It's startin' to snow."
"That I don't know. Chicago already got the snow."
"Usually when we get a lot or a lot is expected, the city gets shut down and they only allow emergency vehicles out."
"I wish Chicago would do that."
"Hank told me about that one year when everyone was gettin' stranded on Lake Shore Drive."
"Yep. Alvin and I love it here so far. I think we needed the change. I've gotten to know Olivia a lot better. It's not like I didn't already know her since they'd always come to visit but now we see each other all the time."
"I was still with Internal Affairs when Hank transferred here. I didn't think we'd get along because Olivia said he was a lot like her former partner in some ways. Trust me, I'd rather deal with Hank than Stabler any day."
"Alvin isn't a fan of his either. He's always been devoted to Hank anyway. I've known Hank longer than most people but I think he got angrier after Camille died. He wants to be better for Olivia, Noah and Serena."
"Around the time Olivia adopted Noah, she and I started respecting each other more. I had asked her for a drink multiple times but she said no because she was seeing someone. I respected that, which is more than I can say for Detective Stabler. It bugs me when I hear him call her partner. I was surprised to be invited to the dinner after their wedding and Hank and I had hit it off. We've all been friends ever since. They both supported me when I was bein' investigated for what my cousin did. Not too many people did. That was right around the time Liv had Serena."
"They were really supportive when our daughter died from a fire. Hank knew Lexi since the day she was born and he was always Uncle Hank to her. Trudy was the one that called them and as soon as they found out she was in the hospital, they headed to Chicago. That included Erin and Justin. Alvin was never really the same after her death but I think it brought us closer. I told him that maybe he should have retired sooner but he kept working. I really enjoy the time I spend with all the kids since I won't ever be a grandma."
"That's gotta be hard. I never thought the dad thing was for me. I get along ok with Patty's boys though."
"You seem to get along pretty well with Noah and Serena."
"They're good kids. They all are. Noah seems to get along with just about everyone but that's just who he is."
"From what Hank and Olivia have said, Noah doesn't particularly like Elliot and neither does Serena. I think that has a lot to do with the ballet thing."
"It's all about what Noah wants to do anyway. Stabler became irrelevant when he left the NYPD over a decade ago. If I had my way, he wouldn't have been allowed to come back. I still don't like him nor do I trust him. I never did."
Then Olivia came in.
"Hey."
"Hello."
"It is cold out there."
"Yep. When does the group from Chicago get in?"
"I think anytime now. They were planning to work part of the day and then fly out. Trudy and Mouch are coming and so are the Bodens."
"Hopefully they'll get here before things get really bad."
"What's going on here?"
"I've got the last of the cookies in the oven and the girls are taking their nap. Now I need to clean up the kitchen."
"No big deal. How long ago did they go down?"
"Maybe ½ an hour ago."
That's fine. They may stay up a little longer tonight. Is Holly with them?"
"Yes."
"Where's trouble times two?"
"They went out Christmas shopping."
"I don't know why he waits so long. Justin is the same way. Erin took Noah and Serena shopping weeks ago."
"Hank has always been that way."
"How many people are you expecting?"
"50-something people. Elliot is supposed to be coming and he said he will at least bring his mother and probably Dickie. He wasn't sure if Eli was going to be home yet and he wasn't sure about Kathleen. Hopefully he won't start anything with you, Hank or Rafa. Patty is coming, right?"
"Yeah. She works until 4. The boys won't be here though. They had plans with friends. When they get out of school, they're leavin' to spend time with their dad."
"Where's he?"
"Boston. We'll have our Christmas with them on Sunday. Patty is off. We're leavin' for a cruise on the 23rd anyway."
"Sounds like fun. We're all leaving on the 23rd for Hawaii. We decided to do something different this year and the kids are so excited about it."
"How long are you off?"
"We will all work Friday and then we leave on Saturday. We'll be back by the 8th."
"Who's takin' Holly?"
"Al and Meredith are. Erin and Pete just got a puppy from the shelter, so they're bringing Izzy to see if see she Holly get along. Justin and Olive just got one too and I think theirs is a sibling of Erin and Pete's. Theirs is Roxie. They're bringing her too, so we'll see how well Holly gets along with them."
"If they don't get along, we'll keep her separate from the dogs."
"That works."
"I always figured Hank was more of a dog person."
"He was fine with whatever the kids and I wanted. I like both. When we went to the shelter, we really fell in love with Holly. Most of the time she sleeps on his chest but sometimes she curls up with one of the kids. Her favorite place when it's cold is right in front of the fireplace."
"She was on one of the kitchen chairs while the girls and I were baking cookies."
"She does that too."
Holly had come downstairs and was in the kitchen. She rubbed up against Olivia and started purring.
"Hey, sweet girl."
"Meow!"
Holly then went to get something to eat. Olivia and Ed cleaned up the kitchen, while Meredith checked on the cookies. A little while later, Hank and Al were back.
"Hey, Babe."
"Hey, Honey."
Hank went over to Olivia and kissed her, while Al kissed Meredith.
"How was work?"
"Same crap, different day. I can't wait for our trip to Hawaii."
"Me neither. Where are Ava and Natalie?"
"Taking a nap."
"The rest of them should be getting out of school soon. Did Serafina and Dominick drop the food off?"
"Yeah, they did. They'll be here too but everyone else had plans."
"Ok."
"The Carisis did the food?"
"Yep. When I was trying to figure out what to have with all these people coming, Amanda suggested calling Serafina. She was more than happy to help. What did they bring over?"
"Mostaccioli, 2 lasagnas and macaroni and cheese. They're bringing the Italian beef, Italian sausage, buns and peppers later."
"She obviously knows what her son likes."
"Yeah, really and he manages to stay so skinny for all he eats."
"If I ate what he did, it would go straight to my ass."
"Your ass is sexy no matter what."
"You're such a smooth talker, Henry Voight."
"Isn't that why you love me?"
"You weren't one of my favorite people when we first met."
"I know I wasn't but you felt differently when you left Chicago after that case."
"Oh, yeah! That was definitely and amazing trip and we were married a little over 6 months later. No one was more surprised than I was when Serena was conceived on our honeymoon in Paris."
Hank kissed Olivia again and then he took the bags upstairs. He also looked in on the girls. Just as he was coming back down, Noah, Serena, Ethan, Zach and Ellie came in.
"Hey, Dad."
"Hi Daddy."
"Hi Papa."
"Hey. How was school?"
"Good."
"Good.
"Ok."
"Is Mom home?"
"She is. She's in the kitchen with Aunt Meredith, Uncle Al and Uncle Ed. Natalie and Ava are takin' a nap, so if you go upstairs, just be quiet."
"Ok."
The kids put their stuff down and took their coats and shoes off. They then went into the kitchen.
"Hey."
"Hey! How was school?"
"It was fine."
"Me too."
"Us too."
"One more week of school!"
"I can't wait!"
"Do you want some cookies?"
"Yes please."
Meredith put some of the cookies on a plate and the kids ate them before they went to work on their homework. Olivia and Hank got the meat and cheese and vegetable trays ready. A little while later, Ava and Natalie were up, so Hank went to get them and then he put one of their videos in for them to watch. Olivia put the ovens on and waited for them to heat up. The doorbell rang again and Olivia went to answer it. This time it was Serafina and Dominick. They had Jesse, Billie, Tony and Frannie with them.
"Hi Auntie Liv."
"Hello. There's my little Tony."
Tony smiled at Olivia.
"I thought Lucy was bringing them over."
"She called and said she needed to leave. We went to pick up Tony, Billie and Frannie and then we went to pick Jesse up at school. I made homemade garlic bread and of course the beef and sausage."
"Thank you so much for your help with this."
"No problem at all. We consider all of you family as well. It's hard to believe that Sonny and Amanda have been married a year already."
"I know."
Meredith offered Jesse and Billie come cookies.
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
"You are both welcome."
"Jesse, Serena is up in her room."
"Thanks. Come on, Billie."
"Ok."
Jesse and Billie headed up to Serena's room. The ovens were ready, so Olivia and Hank took everything out of the refrigerator. They put them in the ovens.
"How long?"
"45 minutes to an hour for everything but it may be a little longer because they're bigger. I hope there's enough. I know how much my son likes to eat."
Olivia set the timers.
"We were talking about that earlier. He manages to stay so skinny."
"He's always been that way. He takes after his father."
"If I eat all that, it goes straight to my ass."
"Oh, please! Olivia, you're gorgeous with those curves of yours."
"Thank you, Serafina."
"You are very welcome."
"I think so too but I might be biased. You were gorgeous when were pregnant too."
"Thank you, Honey."
Olivia kissed Hank again.
"Your home is gorgeous."
"Thank you. Why don't I show you around?"
"I'd like that. Dom, are you coming?"
"Nah. I'm good. I'll stay here with the guys and our grandson."
"Ok."
Olivia and Meredith took Serafina and showed her around.
"This is absolutely amazing!"
"We love it. The kids have their own space and they're not right on top of each other."
"How far away are your older kids from you?"
"They're both a couple blocks away. One in one direction and one in the other. Other than Noah, the kids are all in the same school. Meredith and Al aren't that far away either. Everyone is within walking distance."
"That's nice. What grades is everyone in?"
"Noah is in 6th, Daniel is in 3rd, Serena is in 2nd and Ethan, Zach and Ellie are in kindergarten. They go all day."
"That's right. Serena is in the same grade as Jesse. A part of me wishes Sonny could adopt the girls. Jesse's dad seems like a nice guy though."
"Declan is a good guy and I'm glad he's a part of her life. I'm not surprised Billie's father isn't in her life. When Amanda first told him she was pregnant, he told her to take care of it but then he changed his mind about it."
"She did tell us that."
"Both girls have always been close to Sonny and he's been more of a dad to them anyway. He's an amazing dad."
"He is. I know Amanda was hesitant about meeting us because of her past but she's amazing and makes our son so happy. That's all that matters."
"I agree."
The doorbell rang, so they headed downstairs. It was the group from Chicago.
"Well, we're here. I'm glad we got here before the weather got really bad."
"We're glad you're here too. Come on in."
Everyone came in and took their coats and boots off. Hank came out to hang their coats off.
"Good to see you."
"You too."
"We have a meat and cheese tray and a vegetable tray if you want that. Help yourselves."
Everyone went to help themselves, while Hank and Olivia found out what everyone wanted to drink and then Olivia introduced everyone to Dominick and Serafina. Noah came downstairs.
"Hi everyone."
"What are you feeding this kid? It's only been 6 months since we've seen him."
"He's a growing boy but he stays active. In another year, we'll have a teenager."
"Wow!"
The rest of the kids came downstairs.
"Say hi to everyone."
"Hi."
Serena gave everyone her toothless smile.
"What happened to your teeth?"
"What do you think happened? They fell out."
Serena rolled her eyes.
"Chip off the old block."
"Yep. She is just like her daddy."
"She gets her feistiness from you, Babe."
Olivia rolled her eyes and had her hands on her hips with her head cocked and a smirk on her face. Serena did the exact same thing.
"There's the evidence right there."
"She definitely looks like you, Olivia."
"I can't deny that."
Olivia kissed Hank.
"This one looks like a mini Erin."
"She's definitely a mini Erin. Zach is all his dad. Noah have you and your sister agreed on a movie?"
"Yeah. I let Serena pick it this year. She said it'll probably be 'To Grandmother's House We Go' and maybe 'Eloise at Christmastime' if there's time."
"As long as you and the boys are fine with watching those."
"We are. We're gonna go watch 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' before dinner, since it's short."
"Ok."
The kids including Makayla and Terrance went downstairs to watch 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' as more people arrived. Hank went to answer it and this time it was Patty, the Barbas, Kathleen, Dickie and Bernie, Don and Eileen, Ayanna and Kate.
"Hey, Hank."
"Hey. Come on in."
"Thanks."
Everyone came in and took their coats and shoes off and then Hank hung up the coats.
"We have a meat and cheese tray and a veggie tray in the kitchen and whatever you want to drink. Help yourself."
Everyone but Ayanna, Kate and the Stablers headed into the kitchen.
"This our grandma Bernadette but everyone calls her Bernie. Grandma, this is Hank, who's Olivia's husband."
"Nice to meet you."
"You too."
Then Olivia came out of the kitchen.
"Hey."
"Hello."
Olivia hugged Dickie and Kathleen.
"Where's your dad?"
"He was about to have it out with Eli when we left to pick up Grandma. Apparently he doesn't want to come home for Christmas. We told him we were leaving and if he was going to be in a bad mood, not to show up."
"He's mad at me too but I'm not happy with him either. He's behind on his paperwork and I told him he needs to finish it. He also probably has to go undercover again. I told him the same thing Kathleen told him about not showing up if he's in a bad mood."
"What's with Eli not wanting to come home?"
"He and Dad really aren't getting along. Eli wants to deal with Mom not being around in his own way and would rather be spending time with his college friends."
"We get along ok as brothers, so I called him. He said it's not that he doesn't want to spend time with the rest of us but he just doesn't want to be around Dad."
"Imagine that, your dad and one of his kids aren't getting along."
Olivia rolled her eyes and Dickie and Kathleen couldn't help but laugh.
"Bernie, it's nice to see you."
"You too, Olivia. Your home is lovely."
"Thanks. Would you like a tour?"
"Sure."
"We'll go too."
Olivia kissed Hank and then she took Bernie, Dickie and Kathleen to show them around. Hank, Kate and Ayanna went into the kitchen and Hank introduced them to everyone from Chicago they hadn't met before.
"You enjoying retirement?"
"Yeah. The grandkids keep me busy but only two of them aren't in school."
"What are their ages?"
"Daniel is 8, Ethan, Zach and Ellie are all 5 and Ava and Natalie are 2. Daniel, Ethan, Ava and Natalie are Justin's and Zach and Ellie are Erin's."
Everyone else, including Christian, Lamai and Abby arrived and came in with Erin, Pete, Justin and Olive. They had Roxie and Izzy with them as well. Everyone took their coats and shoes off and went into the kitchen.
"Hello."
"Hey."
"Where is everyone?"
"The kids are downstairs and Mom is showing Dickie, Kathleen and Bernie the house."
"Well, ok then."
Erin hugged everyone from Chicago, while Pete shook hands with everyone. The SVU squad greeted the group from Intelligence with hugs. Sonny kissed his mother and then he and Amanda went to check on the girls. Dominick was down with them and had Tony with him. Tony had started to fuss, so Amanda came up with him and went to feed him. Olivia, Dickie, Kathleen and Bernie joined them. Hank was getting everyone something to drink.
"Hey, Mom."
"Hey."
"I am looking forward to our vacation."
"So are the rest of us."
"Where are you goin'?"
"Hawaii. We leave next Saturday."
"The whole family."
"Damn! That's some trip."
"Hank and I wanted to do something different for our family this year."
"How long are you gone?"
"We leave next Saturday and we're back on the 8th. We're still exchanging gifts as well but we'll do that Friday night before we leave."
"That sounds like a plan."
"Meredith and Al are pet sitting our cat and Erin's dog and Justin's dog."
"That I'd like to see."
Everyone shook their heads at Adam.
"Holly gets along great with Al. Izzy and Roxie just recently joined the family. I think I'm actually more worried about leaving Fin in charge for 2 weeks than I am leaving Holly with Al."
Everyone started laughing.
"Hey! I do a good job when you're off."
"You do but you still like to complain."
Don couldn't help but laugh.
"Is he worse than Munch?"
"Yes!"
"I'll be around more with you off."
"Thanks, Chief."
"No problem."
"How did the Christmas recital go?"
"It was great as always. We have a video of it, so you can watch it later."
"Awesome! How many of the kids are in it?"
"Noah, Serena, Ellie and Jesse are all in ballet at the same school. Amanda tried to get Billie into it but she wasn't interested. She's only 4 though. Ellie started this year. What did Beth Anne have to say about it?"
"She thought it was awesome. She said she has no problem findin' Noah because of the curly hair."
"Declan seemed to enjoy it."
"He did."
"Is she spending time with him at all for Christmas?"
"He's pickin' her up Christmas Day. Beth Anne is bringin' Mason up to spend the Holidays with us."
"That'll be good. She hasn't been here since Tony was born, right?"
"Right. I may take some time even if Amanda's workin', so I can spend some time with the kids."
"That makes sense. You're a little more flexible being with the DA's office than you were when you were with SVU. No one is happier that you and Amanda go together than I am. It was quite obvious that you felt something for her when she was pregnant with Jesse and she wanted you with her more than she did Al when Billie was born."
"That's kind of the reason I decided to become the ADA but either way, I didn't want my feelings for Amanda to interfere with my job."
"Even if you hadn't gone to the DA's office, I still would have been ok with you two."
"We never would have kept it from you either."
"Since I was the reason Hank transferred here in the first place, I let 1PP know almost right away about us. That also included Internal Affairs. When Erin and Pete started seeing each other, I already knew about it and so did Hank but they had to go to 1PP about it."
"Look at how quickly Voight and Tucker hit it off. I never saw that one comin'."
"To be honest, neither did I. Hank has a tendency to be a hothead and I had to deal with that with a certain former partner of mine. I did point that out to him when I first met him and threatened to arrest him if he did that again. When he gives me his word, I know he means it."
"Have you heard from Munch?"
"He said he wasn't feeling well but he sends his regards to everyone."
"Are we missing anyone else?"
"Nick sends his love to everyone too."
"I'm sure not me."
"He said even you."
Dinner was ready, so the kids came to get their food first and then everyone else got theirs. Everyone found a spot and sat down.
"Serafina, this is so good."
"I'm glad you like it. I love cooking for a lot of people."
"You're the best cook, Ma."
"Thank you, Sweetheart."
"Rollins, do you cook for Carisi?"
"Oh, no way! He cooks for me."
"Hank is a good cook too. Ever since he retired, I come home to dinner on the table every night if I get home for dinner. If I end up having to work late, which obviously I do, he has something for me when I get home, even if it's just a sandwich. The kids have already done their homework and are at least ready for bed. We'll let Noah stay up a little later than Serena unless he's really tired. I love that Erin and Justin are both so close to us. We have dinner as a family almost every night."
"Families should have dinner together. I'm glad we have a family dinner at least once a week. I get Amanda and Sonny get busy with work though. This is your Christmas with your friends though?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Everyone does their own thing anyway but we've been doing this since the first year we were married. The first Christmas Hank and I knew each other, we spent together too. That was actually when I first met Justin and Hank first met Noah."
"Yep and Dad wasn't the only one that loved you from the moment he met you."
"Don't make me cry while I'm eating."
"Sorry."
"What do you normally do as a family?"
"We normally have dinner and watch movies. Sometimes Erin and Pete will take the twins to see his parents, so they weren't here last year."
"Where's that?"
"Minneapolis."
"What made you decide to come to New York?"
"I felt it was time for a change. That change brought Erin into my life. I'm 1 of 6 kids and we're all over the country. My oldest brother Tim and his family are in Chicago, my oldest sister Cindy and her family are in San Diego, Sarah is my twin and she lives on Long Island with her family, my youngest brother Matt is in Dallas with his family and my youngest sister Kristin is still in Minnesota with her family. They're not that far away from Mom and Dad. My parents have 20 grandkids and love every minute of it."
"Are you and your twin sister close?"
"More now than we ever were."
"I get that. Lizzie and I are probably a lot closer now as adults than we were growing up."
Then Noah came in and sat next to Olivia.
"Did you have enough food?"
"There's still some room left for dessert. I love Mrs. Carisi's food and Mrs. Barba's food whenever they cook for us. Thank you, Mrs. Carisi."
"You are very welcome, Noah."
"I always help with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for the homeless at my church."
"I've done the same thing. Sonny and Amanda are bringing the kids over early tomorrow morning and they're helping to bake cookies."
"I can't wait, Ma."
Amanda got up and went into the kitchen. Olivia got up and followed her.
"Mandy, you ok?"
"The woman makes everything from scratch, Liv. I do premade cookies from the store that all I have to do is put them on a tray and put them in the oven. I'm not cut out for this. Why did he marry me?"
"Because he loves you and he wanted to be with you. He's also the father of your son. Honestly, I never thought I'd ever get married but you know what? I wouldn't change my life for anything now. We've been together 9 years and we've been married for 8½. This is a record for me. I have never been in a relationship this long before but I love Hank more and more every day and I love everything about our life together, the kids, the grandkids, this house. 10 years ago, I never saw any of this happening. I just thought it was going to be me and Noah."
"Would you have gone for Stabler if you weren't with Voight?"
"Probably not. I won't deny that I felt something for him at one point because we worked together for so long but I still don't think I could have ever crossed that line with him. You can love someone and not be with them in a romantic sense. I still have mixed feelings about him being back in my life. Hank knows that and so does Ed. I don't keep anything from Hank. Elliot still doesn't quite understand why I'm even friends with Ed after the way he was with all of us for all those years. I noticed a change in Ed after what had happened with William Lewis and he was supportive of me wanting to adopt Noah even with all the stuff with Johnny D. I still have yet to tell Elliot about any of that. He hasn't expressed any interest in what I've been through in the time he was gone other than my love life. I'm actually glad he isn't here tonight if he was in a cranky mood. Kathleen said he was about to have it out with Eli on the phone and Ayanna said she wasn't happy with him because he was so far behind with his paperwork. She also told him he'd probably be going undercover again. They both told him not to show up here if he was in such a bad mood. I didn't want him trying to start something with Hank, Ed or Rafa."
"Would he start somethin' with Voight though?"
"He would. Even though he claims he wants me to be happy, just his body language makes me think he still thinks he would be better for me. Every time I talk about Noah and his dance recitals, he rolls his eyes."
"He has no say in any of it, so don't let it bother you."
Hank, Ed and Trevor came in with the plates.
"You ok?"
"Yeah. It's only been a year and I'm still a little overwhelmed with things that his mother does. I love her dearly though. I never had any of this."
"Noah wants to go over to the Carisis and help bake cookies."
"I'm fine with that."
Sonny came in, so everyone else left. Amanda told him how she felt.
"Noah, if you want to help bake cookies at the Carisis, that's fine."
"Awesome!"
"Any of the other kids are welcome to come too."
"I'm sure ours would love to but we're going to see Pete's sister and brother-in-law this weekend. We're leaving in the morning and coming home Sunday evening."
"The boys would love to help."
"Serena probably would too."
"How about this, we can take the kids home with us, so they can spend the night and then someone can come pick them up tomorrow."
"That sounds like a plan. What do you think, Noah?"
"That sounds great. Should I go see if Serena wants to go?"
"You might as well."
"It's fine with us but check with the boys too."
"Ok."
Noah went to talk to Serena, Daniel and Ethan and then he came back upstairs.
"Yes for all 3 of them."
"Ok."
Amanda and Sonny came out of the kitchen.
"Liv, we're makin' coffee and we also put hot water on for tea or hot chocolate."
"Ok, great. Thanks."
"We're taking all the kids with us and you can come out later. We're taking Noah, Serena, Daniel and Ethan plus Jesse and Billie."
"That works."
Olivia had Noah get the rest of the kids and then everyone exchanged gifts. After they opened their gifts, they had coffee, tea or hot chocolate with dessert. Olivia let everyone watch the Christmas recital. Justin went home to get an overnight bag for the boys and Noah went to get some stuff together, while Serena did the same. Hank cleaned up the kitchen with Meredith, Pete, Ed and Trevor's help. Dickie, Kathleen and Bernie left first, so Olivia and Hank went to get their coats and wished them all Merry Christmas. Everyone else was starting to leave. Once Justin got back, Dominick and Serafina left with the kids after all the kids said goodbye to their respective parents. Once the kitchen was cleaned up, everyone else pretty much left, including Erin and Pete and Justin and Olive. Hank and Olivia had the place to themselves, so they were sitting in the family room in front of the fire and the tree. Holly had come out from under their bed after everyone left and was now sleeping under the tree.
"Tonight went well I thought."
"It usually does. I'm just glad Stabler didn't show up and ruin it for everyone."
"I think he's trying to accept things as they are but I think he still thinks he's better for me."
"I don't care what he thinks. He's the one that left you without any word whatsoever and then he just expects you to be happy with the fact that he's all of a sudden back with the NYPD and back in your life. He was obviously disappointed that you were no longer single."
"That's never going to change. If something happens to you, I won't be getting involved with anyone for a while."
"I said the same thing and I was married again within 5 years."
"I don't know that I could put the kids through that. What I do or what you do affects them as much as it does either one of us."
"I know it does. Pete doesn't like Stabler because of the way he treats you or really any higher up in general. Justin has nothin' good to say about him either."
"I know. I also know Erin's feelings about him too. Olive tries to like everyone but he gets to her too. Noah and Serena avoid him most of the time anyway."
"Noah and Serena seemed ok with the rest of this family."
"They were. I just don't like how Elliot acts whenever I mention Noah's recitals."
"He has no say in the matter."
"I know he doesn't. Everyone who saw the video of the recital thought it was amazing. A lot of them had already come to one of the recitals."
"True. I don't wanna talk about Stabler right now or really ever. He's killin' my mood."
"Upstairs now!"
Hank turned the fireplace and the tree off and then they headed up to the bedroom. They started kissing, undressed each other and made love. Afterwards they were holding each other all out of breath and wrapped in the covers.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"You're the love of my life and that won't ever change."
"I thought I had found the love of my life with Camille but I lucked out when you came into my life. I started feelin' things again that I hadn't felt in a long time."
"I was never great in relationships until you came into my life. I normally don't go to bed with someone that soon but I think I knew then that I wanted to be with you all the time."
"If something ever does happen to me, I want you to be happy. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if you ended up with Trevor. He's a good guy and all the kids like him."
"In a way, I can see that. Like I told you before, it'll be a while before I's want to get involved with someone again. I just want to live a long life with you."
"I want that too."
They kissed again before Olivia got out of bed and went to get ready for bed. After she came back and got into bed, Hank went to get ready for bed. He joined Olivia and then they both fell asleep in each other's arms.
The next morning, Erin, Pete and the twins got up, got ready and had breakfast before they dropped Izzy off with Olive and Justin and left for Long Island. Hank and Olivia had gotten up, fed Holly and had breakfast. They went back to bed and made love before they decided to get up and get ready for the day. Justin had stayed up after Erin and Pete dropped Izzy off, so he fed the dogs and fixed breakfast. He got Olive and the girls up, so they could have breakfast. Olive got the girls dressed, while Justin took a shower and then once Justin was done, Olive took a shower. Once they were ready, they went over to Hank and Olivia's with the dogs. They all went out to lunch and then Hank and Justin went to Staten Island to get the kids, while Olive helped Olivia wrap presents, while the girls took a nap. Holly was getting in the middle of everything and Roxie and Izzy slept under the table. By the time Hank and Justin got back with the kids, a ton of cookies and homemade pizzas, which the kids helped make, they put one of the pizzas in the oven and had it for dinner.
They went out for breakfast with everyone from Chicago before they left. When they parted ways, they all wished each other a Merry Christmas. Erin and her family came back that evening. Everyone in the family was looking forward to it being the week of work and school for a while and they were looking forward to their trip to Hawaii.
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