A/N: It's Christmas Eve, nearing midnight on the east coast of the US. Do our two detectives get their presents?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or basic plot points, I do, however, own the words and storyline of this particular story, so don't sue me, Dick Wolf.

Quarter-past five, fifteen minutes until she was officially off-duty for the holiday weekend, and she was frozen to her chair perched at her desk, staring at the flowers, spinning one of the gift cards from a random green envelope in her fingers.

"We exhausted all of our possibilities," he told her, trying to get her to stop working on an unsolvable puzzle. "It wasn't Cragen, it wasn't Kathy, none of the kids, no one in the unit..."

"Your mother," she told him, raising an eyebrow. "Call her."

He stared at her for a moment. "Come on," he scoffed. "We have to go home, feed the kids, get dressed, go to the department party, and...if I call her, she will keep me on the phone until New Year's Eve." He chuckled, seeing her smile back at him, and then he sighed. "You really think this was her?"

"I think all of it was," she said to him, matter-of-factly, tossing the gift card to Romano's Ristorante down onto her desk. "Cragen wouldn't go as far as he did, not on his own, and you know it." She tilted her head and looked up at Elliot, a knowing look in her eyes. "You told me your mother never really liked Kathy, and she wasn't exactly thrilled about when, why, or how you married her. She would jump at the chance to make sure you were happy, with someone for the right reasons..."

"Shit," he said, leaning back in his rolling chair. He looked at the scattered envelopes, each one containing a gift card for a store or restaurant, places he loved, and places he had told his mother Olivia frequented, and it all began to make sense. "I think you're right. This is something...something she would do." He got up quickly and said, "Get your coat on, I have to ask Cragen about this, and then...and then we are leaving and having one hell of a time at the Christmas party." He winked and then turned on his heels and headed for Cragen's office door.

He hadn't told her what Cragen said, had not even given her a hint, he simply came out, grabbed his own coat, and as he'd promised, led Olivia out of the sqaudroom. He had been quiet on the way home, even more quiet as he cooked a fast dinner for the kids, only opening his mouth to issue parental rules and warnings for the night they'd spend in the house alone.

"Say something," she finally prodded as they pulled up to the banquet hall, the lavish place the NYPD had chosen to hold the annual holiday gala.

He turned his head as he parked in front of the valet booth. "You look absolutely beautiful," he said, sincerity in his voice, his fingers brushing slowly down her cheek.

She smiled. "Thank you," she whispered and attempted to keep herself from blushing. "But I meant, say something about..."

"You were right," he sighed, getting out of the car. He ran as fast as he could around the vehicle, eager to be the one that opened her door. He glared at the valet, making the pimple faced teen back away wide-eyed, and he held open the passenger side door with one hand and held the other out to her. He curled his fingers around hers and brought her knuckles up to his lips. He kissed each one sweetly, handed the kid a ten dollar bill, and walked with Olivia to the large open double-doors.

"It was your mom?" she asked, her brows arching in curves.

He sighed as he nodded, and helped her off with her coat. "Cragen said...she called not too long after he spoke with Kathy, and they cooked up this elaborate scheme to..." he cleared his throat. "She said it was to make up for her mistakes. She blamed her, um, unique parenting for my poor choices, and this was her...making it up to me."

She leaned forward, kissed him lightly on his lips, and whispered, "I think she did good," and she winked at him to punctuate her statement.

He narrowed his eyes. "You don't think they pushed us too hard? Rushed us?" He tossed their coats over the counter at the concierge and blindly held out his hand for a ticket. Feeling it hit his palm, he shoved it in his pocket and pulled Olivia into the ballroom. "Seriously?"

"El," she sighed, "Honestly, I think...we waited long enough. Haven't we?" she asked, blinking. "Or was I misreading signals for the last..."

"Oh, thank God," he breathed, interrupting her. His arms wrapped around her silver dress, his hands smoothing down the silk and cupping just before it would've been deemed indecent. He pulled her to him and kissed her hard. He felt her hands move up his back, her nails beginning to scratch the nape of his neck. He pressed further into her, moaning slightly at his body's instant reaction to her touch.

She pulled away first, a small laugh leaving the back of her throat. "We, uh, we are in front of...literally, everyone we know."

"I know," he said, nodding, his lips and cheeks flushed. "I want to tell the world how crazy I am about you, and that..."

"Did I just see what I think I just saw?" Fin's voice called on a laugh.

Olivia and Elliot turned, seeing him sauntering over with his date. Olivia paled, looked at Elliot, and then back at Fin. "Well, um, yeah, we were just..."

"It's about damn time," Fin said, slapping Elliot on the shoulder. "All that nonsense, the balloons and shit, was that you askin' her to..."

"Yup," Elliot said, grinning, figuring at this point the lie was more believable than the truth. "We, uh, we are...we are an 'us,' now."

Fin squinted. "Nah, man," he said. "You always were." He patted Elliot on the shoulder again, shot a smiling nod to Olivia, and walked away with his date, leading her to the dance floor.

Olivia cleared her throat, garnering Elliot's attention again, and she took a deep breath before saying, "Seems like everyone really did expect this."

He laughed, and kissed her again, softly, slowly. "Dance with me," he whispered into her ear. It wasn't a question, it wasn't a demand, but had fallen somewhere in between.

She bit her lip coyly as she nodded, eyeing him up and down as they moved toward the floor. His black suit seemed custom-made for him, it fit perfectly, not hiding but accentuating every part of his physique. His silver tie glinted in the dim lights of the room, and his smile radiated. "Hey, listen," she said, moving effortlessly into his arms. "They're playing our song."

He rolled his eyes as the tune hit his ears, and he pulled her even closer. "I can't get mad at it," he said, shaking his head. He looked into her eyes and his smile took on a pure love that he knew only existed because of her, for her. "It brought me to you."

She smiled back, her own emotions dancing along with them. "It did, didn't it?"

He nodded, his head dipping toward her, his lips lightly brushing hers before he kissed her. He swayed with her in his arms as the song swelled and swirled around them.

Silver bells...silver bells...it's Christmastime in the city...

He wound her tighter, moved slower, less dancing and more kissing, taking them both away for just a moment.

"You seeing that, Cap?" Munch asked, perched at the bar as he nudged Cragen with his elbow.

"I sure do, John," Cragen returned with a content smile. "I sure do." He brought the glass of plain seltzer to his lips, sipped, and said, "And before you ask, I'm fine with it. They deserve to be happy, and they've proven they can do their jobs, just fine, regardless of..."

"Captain," Munch said, cutting him off, "I wasn't gonna ask. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. I've had four of these already." He waved a curved glass that obviously had some heavy-duty alcohol it in a few minutes ago.

Cragen laughed, shook his head, and said, "No, John, you're seeing it right." He took the glass away from him and replaced it with his own still-full glass. "But, uh, just in case, drink this."

Munch nodded his thanks and took a sip as his gaze returned to Olivia and Elliot, still kissing, conveniently beneath a bunch of Mistletoe. "They look happy."

"They are happy," Cragen said.

"Haven't told them yet, then, huh?" Munch asked, setting the glass of seltzer down on the bar.

Cragen sighed sadly, then. "No point in dampening their Christmas, John." He folded his arms and as he remembered that he owed Ed Tucker a few hundred bucks, and why, he grinned. "It can wait until New Year's."

A/N: HAVE YOURSELVES A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS! I love you all! (and yes this hints at a New Year's fic...series)