AN: Here it is, the promised end to this story. I got a new laptop and with that this is the first story to get the ending. I left the original date here as well: that's when the first bits of this chapter were written. Now, 4,5 years later it is complete, but this was never supposed to be the ending. Now it is.

Thank you all for taking this journey with me, this long lasting journey, where I twice abandoned you for nearly a year, but I am happy to see you are still here. I appreciate every bit of critisism you've given me over the years and every bit of good advice, support and comments. I hope you like the final chapter you're about to read and leave me the last piece of opinion about this story.

There is a possibility that this story will get a sequel, as I have quite a few chapters planned in my head, but I make no promises yet. Maybe someday.

Enjoy the chapter, and keep warm.

L.

***SVU***

Pre-season 9, June

8/7 2014

Olivia wandered into the squad room of SVU at night, but despite the late hour, detectives were working hard. They had two missing kids, who might still be alive, all they had to do was find them. She stood by the doors for a moment looking over at Elliot, Munch, Fin and Cragen brainstorming at the middle of squad room, their ideas were getting more unrealistic, because the regular methods had been exhausted, but it didn't stop them from bringing them up once again in hopes of having missed something before.

Olivia knew the chase well enough, even if she was suspended from work. Elliot had barely been home, only to sleep for a couple of hours and Olivia knew, if it wasn't her waiting for him or she had been working as well, neither of them had gone home. She remembered the tough cases, when she barely got outside the precinct, even then only to pick up a suspect as well. The nights were spent in crib, getting few hours of sleep per night and drowning coffee all night long. It was one of those cases and for the first time Olivia understood the strain this work put on the loved ones waiting at home. It's why Munch, Fin and Elliot were divorced, and she barely got a 3rd date with guys.

"What about the pawn shop?" Fin asked.

"We've been there twice, he doesn't remember our perp," Elliot responded.

"Nobody saw or heard him, but he has successfully kidnapped two little girls," Munch said.

"Somebody's gotta remember," Elliot shouted.

"Maybe O'Halloran missed something," Fin suggested.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Elliot grunted.

"So you wanna blame this on lab?" Munch questioned.

"I'm just saying that lab has screwed us before," Elliot explained.

"And how many times have you screwed us?" Fin attacked Elliot.

"Not as much as you have," Elliot shot back.

"If you say so mister anger issue," Fin attacked.

"If you're so perfect, how come you let our suspect walk?" Elliot responded.

"He was not our suspect at the time, he was just a random person in that café along with dozens of others. Should I have arrested all 21 people, who were at the Café at the time I got there. Our pictures were sent from that public computer, that's all we knew at the time. I wasn't there looking for suspects, I looked for witnesses," Fin protected himself.

"Knock it off, you two," Cragen interrupted, before Elliot could argue back.

All eyes fell on their tired Captain.

"Fin, go get some fresh air, Elliot, talk to Liv," Cragen ordered and pointed towards the doorway, where Olivia was standing.

"I brought you gifts," Olivia said and held out a tray with 4 coffees along with 2 boxes of pizza.

"You're a blessing," Elliot said, when Olivia walked towards them.

"What are you doing here?" Munch asked.

"I was worried about you. I know how long you've been working and how hard this case is. It's always bad, when it's kids and if the case is time sensitive. I figured you'll need a 10-minute break with some decent coffee," Olivia said.

She dropped coffees and pizza boxes on her desk and watched as her overworked colleagues hungrily took their coffees and started destroying the pizza she brought.

Elliot pulled her instantly to his embrace, happy to see her after long hours of non-stop working. He loved his job, but he loved Olivia more, this suspension was making it harder, because she wasn't at his sight, where he could have kept an eye on her.

"Hey, I'm eating here. Go smooch your girlfriend somewhere else," Munch protested.

Elliot gave him a look before taking Olivia's hand and leading her away from others. They stopped at observation room, which put they away from other detective's sights. Elliot gently pushed her against the wall and kissed her hungrily.

"I've missed you," he said

"Missed you too," she replied.

"How is everything?" he asked and moved his palm to rest on her abdomen, where her baby bump had formed.

"Good, according to doctor everything's okay. The baby is developing normally, so everything is okay," she assured him.

"Oh, crap. I totally forgot," Elliot said in realization of missed appointment and put his hand over his forehead.

"It's okay, El. You have a child kidnapper to catch," Olivia said, assuring him.

"Liv, babe, I'm so sorry. I promise not to forget our doctor appointments anymore," Elliot said, making a mental note not to miss another one of her appointments.

"Don't worry about it. If something was wrong, I would have called," Olivia said calmly. She lifted her hand and placed it on his cheek. Elliot leaned against her touch.

"35 more days and then I'll have you here all day long, so I can keep an eye on you both," Elliot said, counting the days to the date, when she'd be back.

"I might not get transferred here, but let's not jump ahead of time," Olivia said to keep him from getting his hopes up, and hers too, truthfully.

Elliot obliged and changed the topic.

"Tell me, how are you doing?" Elliot asked genuinely concerned about Olivia and tilted his head. "I know pregnancy has been treating you roughly lately," he added.

"Still the same. I can keep some of the food down, but I still feel nauseated, I'm exhausted, tired, hungry and overly emotional, but other than that I'm fine. But I'm past my first trimester now, so the doctor said that I should start feeling better soon," Olivia answered, knowing since she was already 15 weeks and in second trimester, so the morning sickness should fade, but her body was gonna change rapidly. Elliot of course knew all of that before, because unlike Olivia he had done this before multiple times.

"I'm glad you're somewhat better," Elliot said and smiled.

"Might be time we tell others about it," Olivia suggested, Cragen was briefed weeks ago, Melinda learned about it before even Olivia and Elliot and of course Olivia told her best friend Casey, but Munch and Fin were in the dark, along with new detective Chester Lake, who acted as Elliot's partner during Olivia's absence. Elliot's children and Kathy didn't know about it either.

"You sure?" Elliot asked.

"Well, not now, you have your perp to focus on, but when something comes up, you can tell them, you even should tell them," Olivia said confidently. "I can't hide it much longer," she said. Even now there was a small bump at her lower abdomen, but she could keep it out of sight by wearing slightly baggier clothes.

"On that note, I'm gonna do some shopping tomorrow, because otherwise I might have to wear your sweats all the time," Olivia noted. She had discarded her tighter pants weeks ago, but at that morning she realized that her biggest jeans were getting tight as well and that was a clear sign that she had to get some new clothes. At home she could just use Elliot's clothes, but the prospect of wearing his clothes outside of the apartment didn't seem appealing.

"I don't mind you wearing my clothes," Elliot said and smiled.

"You might not, but NYPD's dress code doesn't take that into account. I need to get some new work clothes and a bunch of bras," Olivia said.

"Say what?" Elliot asked. He looked down at her and tried to think if her boobs had gotten bigger lately or not.

"I need new clothes, I can't fit into the ones I have now," Olivia said again.

"If you want, I can come and help you pick out new clothes," Elliot suggested and raised his eyebrow.

Olivia laughed. "You wanna come shopping voluntarily?" she asked.

Elliot tilted his head.

"The bras at this size – they're all white and boring, I'd have to reduce my cup size a few numbers for you to have more fun options," Olivia explained.

Elliot's face didn't drop. "I find all your bras sexy, but I find them sexiest, when I take them off. And I appreciate your cup size," he said with a smirk.

"They might shrink in future," Olivia said casually.

Elliot smirked, ran his hands on her sides, down to her waist and back up to her ribcage. "If they do, then it'll be fine. I love your body, but I fell in love with what's inside," he said sweetly.

"So, you fell in love with our baby?" she asked with a smile – the fetus was literally inside of her.

"Of course, I did, from the moment you told me about him or her," Elliot replied.

He kissed her cheek.

"I'm so glad you came by today," he said. He had really missed her lately while working this case. True he had been home most of the days, but he was there just to sleep and most of the times Olivia had been asleep as well.

"I have to keep an eye on you and I've missed you. After this case is over or when you get home at decent hour, I have few ideas what we can do," she said with a suggestive smile.

"Oh, I'd love that," Elliot said with a wide smile.

Olivia smirked and muttered something under her breath that sounded like "I bet you do." She leaned upwards, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips firmly against his. Elliot tightened his grip on her back and pressed his chest against hers, so Olivia was sandwiched between him and the wall.

"Better?" she asked and tilted her head slightly.

"Oh, I feel much better now," he replied. He dropped his head to her shoulder and moved his palms on her back. His fingers reached her hair in neat ponytail, he pulled slightly and made Olivia move her head back, her neck becoming exposed in the process. He latched his lips against the skin and sucked eagerly. Olivia cradled his head, but she was caution of his intentions.

"No marks, El," she reminded him. Olivia had established that Elliot could not leave marks on her skin, that's visible like he once did few months earlier. She still allowed him to give her hickeys in places her clothes would easily hide, but that only because he seemed to really enjoy leaving them. She on the other hand was never a big fan of giving hickeys.

Elliot grunted against her skin, moved her shirt out of the way and kissed her just on top of her bra strap. Olivia shivered at the tickling his slight stubble caused, he continued kissing her neck, then moved up to her jaw until he found her lips again. He kissed her hungrily, both of them salvaged the moment as they had missed each other. Olivia just let him take the lead and followed easily.

"I think you should get back, maybe there is even some pizza left for you," she suggested, when Elliot released her lips and moved on to her cheek and was nearing the spot behind her ear.

"I want you more than pizza," he said and silenced her reply by covering her lips with his again. Olivia still managed to mumble something, but he was paying attention to that. Other than giving a kiss to her sleeping or barely awake form, this was by far the most contact they have had ever since SVU caught their current case. Olivia just surrendered and kept running her fingers in his hair. She'd be lying if she'd say that she wasn't enjoying this.

There was a knock on a door. Both Olivia and Elliot grunted, Elliot took a step away from Olivia and opened the door. Behind the door was Chester with a victorious smile on his face.

"Warner got a DNA match from the first victim's body," he announced and waved the paper.

Elliot smiled – this could mean that he can go home at decent hour. He grabbed Olivia's hand and returned to the squad, Chester leading them. They reached the others, where Elliot offered Olivia his chair and grabbed his coffee and a slice of pizza. He leaned against his desk by Olivia, who casually placed her hand over his thigh.

"I thought the perp didn't leave anything behind," Elliot said, Warner had given her report hours ago with no DNA found on the body.

"She went through the body once again and found soma saliva in her hair. Just enough to get the DNA," Chester beamed.

"So, who is our perp?" Fin asked.

"One Trevor Hayes," Chester said and pulled his picture up on screen.

Olivia looked at the picture on the wall and moved the chair. Elliot stood and walked around to stand behind her, he had coffee in one hand and the other was around Olivia's neck.

"Why is his DNA on system?" Olivia asked.

"Volunteered a sample in rape-homicide investigation a year ago, but he was cleared," Chester answered.

"I remember him. I worked with agent Peck on that case. Really creepy man, saw Liv's picture on my desk and tried to get her number afterwards. I really liked him for the murder, but DNA cleared him," Elliot said jogging through his memory.

"We have an address?" Cragen asked.

Chester nod and pulled up Trevor's current address.

"I'll call Casey, you go pick him up," Cragen said picking up the phone.

Before Cragen could dial a number, Casey walked in the squad room. "Why would you be calling Casey?" she asked.

All eyes were on her for a moment. "We have a suspect and I need a warrant," Cragen said.

"I already have it," she said and took the paper out from his handbag. "I talked with Warner and she gave me a name. I got Donnely to sign it on my way," she elaborated.

Casey held the warrant out, which Fin grabbed. Munch was right behind him and the two headed towards the elevator. Chester rushed to his desk to grab his gun and jacket.

Elliot kissed Olivia's hair, took his jacket and hungrily finished his coffee. While putting on his jacket he went back to Olivia, turned her with the chair and gave her a quick kiss to her lips.

"I love you. Go home, get some rest. I'll be there as soon as we have our little girls and our perp," he said to her, kissing her between talking.

"Are you coming, Loverboy?" Munch called out for Elliot, when the elevator arrived.

Elliot kissed Olivia once more and ran to the elevator, leaving Olivia, Casey and Cragen alone in the squad room.

"I interrupted Judge Donnely's shower to get this, so I really hope to stay away from her sight in near future," Casey explained.

Olivia laughed and Cragen chuckled.

"Liv, what are you doing here?" Casey realizing that Olivia was not supposed to be there.

"I called her in. We were all frustrated about the case to the point where Elliot just walked around blaming everybody around him. We all want to close this case, but not like this. He is a good detective, but in that state, he was doing more harm than good. I figured seeing Olivia would cheer him up a little and eventually get his focus back on the case," Cragen explained.

"And funny thing is, this is not the first time I've been ordered to handle El," Olivia commented.

"So, when are you back permanently? I miss having another woman around in this men's club," Casey asked.

"I have 35 days left on my suspension, but there is no guarantee that I'll be assigned back to SVU," Olivia replied neutrally, hoping she wouldn't be transferred out of SVU.

"I'll get you back, Liv, don't worry. While Lake is doing a good job, I could really use a female detective in the squad," Cragen assured his detective.

Olivia smiled. She had heard from Elliot that Lake is not good enough for him, but Elliot is obviously the best person to judge. Of course, his new partner wasn't gonna be as good as Olivia, she doubted he'd be satisfied with anyone but herself after all their time together.

"I should be going. I am so tired," Olivia said, rubbing her eyes.

"Take care of yourself, Liv," Cragen said and left for his office.

Casey and Olivia headed towards the elevators. They waited for the elevator in silence, Olivia leaned on the wall and Casey stood by her side.

"When are you planning on telling about your pregnancy?" Casey asked bluntly, she could notice the subtle signs of her pregnancy including the baggy sweatshirt she was currently wearing, no doubt to hide her growing abdomen.

"I told Elliot he can start telling people now. I really can't really hide it for much longer," she replied.

"They'll be happy for you," Casey said with full confidence. "But even though you are surrounded by detectives, don't expect them to notice it before you hit your third trimester."

Olivia laughed good heartedly. Yeah, the guys were not always the best in picking up subtle signs.

"Cragen already knows, we told him before my suspension. I'm still worried about their reaction, Elliot is smothering me already and I don't know what to expect from the guys," Olivia said.

"You have time to figure everything out, how far along are you?" Casey asked.

"15 weeks," Olivia replied.

"You're already showing," Casey said with a smile.

"Not enough for guys to notice. Though Elliot keeps pretending he sees something," Olivia joked.

Casey laughed and mumbled something that sounded a lot like "Men" under her breath.

The elevator stopped at ground floor.

"I have to go shopping tomorrow," Olivia said with a sigh. She barely had time for shopping and she always kept postponing it until she couldn't anymore.

"Good luck. I'll be free in the afternoon, so I could come along, if you want. I could use some now suits for work," Casey offered.

"Sure. Call me when you're free," Olivia said with a smile.

They walked out of the precinct Casey went towards the parking lot, while Olivia walked home. She had done nothing whole day, but it was tiring nevertheless.

***SVU***

It was past 4 am, when Elliot finally got home. He was beyond exhausted, but satisfied that they got their perp and even without confession they had him. Fin was still grilling him, when Cragen sent Elliot home.

He dropped his jacked on the floor and loosened his tie before throwing it on kitchen floor. He was halfway unbuttoning his shirt, when he opened the fridge. He drank almost whole pack of orange juice and ate some leftovers. He finished unbuttoning his shirt and let it fall on the hallway floor. He undid his belt, then brushed his teeth and splashed some water in his face, he knew he needed a shower, but he was way too tired at that moment.

Finally he opened the bedroom door and saw Olivia sleeping peacefully. Elliot quietly removed his pants and socks and climbed into the bed. He slid himself close to Olivia and pulled the blanket from her since she had managed to wrap it around her body. She protested at the movement, but didn't wake up.

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back to his chest. He intertwined his fingers with hers over her slight bump and closed his eyes letting long awaited sleep claim him.

Olivia was first to rouse in the morning. She felt rather than saw Elliot at her side and that took away her willpower to get up. Instead she shifted slightly, but Elliot's arm around her stayed strong. She pulled the blanket over her shoulders and closed her eyes again. Olivia didn't fall back to sleep but stayed in this state between being awake and being asleep.

It was awhile later, when she felt Elliot rousing, his breathing changed, he moved himself, stretched and then wrapped himself around Olivia again.

"Good morning," she greeted.

"Oh, it is a good morning," he agreed. Elliot kissed her neck through her hair, then moved his hand from around her to her neck to push her hair. He pressed his lips to her newly exposed skin and in reaction to that Olivia turned herself to her back, found his lips and kissed him passionately.

"I've missed you," she whispered against his lips.

"I've missed you more, both of you. Chester doesn't even come close," he replied.

"What, he doesn't sleep with you?" she smirked.

"Even if he wanted, I wouldn't be interested. Not when I have you to come home to," he replied.

He wrapped his arm tight around her and rolled himself on his back, Olivia on top of him.

"That's better," he said and smiled proudly.

"Is it now?" she asked with a smile.

Elliot nodded. He raised his eyebrows as if asking for permission. Olivia got up into sitting position and pulled his t-shirt over her head and threw it on the floor. Then she pressed herself against his bare chest, kissed his neck just behind his ear.

"Oh, yes. I promised you some fun, when you come home," she whispered seductively.

Elliot reached down and pulled her shorts down, with some help from Olivia those landed somewhere at the foot of the bed. He struggled a bit, but he got rid of his boxers as well.

Olivia pushed herself up and settled on sitting on his lower abdomen. She found an elastic band by the pillow and used it to put her hair into ponytail, but Elliot got stopped her.

"Don't," he said simply, he took the band from her hair and threw it on the floor. Olivia gave him a dirty look, but didn't react.

He leaned back on the bed, ran his hands up and down on her sides and looked at his girlfriend. His eyes stopped at small bump at her lower abdomen, it was small enough to hide under clothes, but clearly visible, while looking at her naked body.

"What?" she asked.

"You're beautiful," he said sheepishly.

He moved his palm to her abdomen and smiled brightly. "We made this," he beamed.

Olivia nodded with wide smile. "Well, we have had a lot of practice," she said and rolled her eyes.

He looked her up and down. "You're right, your boobs are bigger," he said.

Olivia raised her eyebrow.

"I'm sorry I didn't notice before," he said and threaded his hands towards them.

"It's maybe because they have been off limits for quite some time now," Olivia said.

"Still sore?" he asked and carefully held them in his palms.

"A bit," Olivia replied. "Just be gentle with them," she suggested, it was the first time in a long time that Elliot got permission to touch her boobs, and truthfully, he had missed it.

Elliot nodded. He massaged them in his hands with care, while Olivia leaned back down and kissed him hard. She moved her body against his growing erection just the right way to get a rise out of him.

Olivia made a move and rolled them over so she was on her back and Elliot on top of her, the blanket was long forgotten somewhere partially on the floor.

Elliot kissed his way down to her body, he kissed her inner thighs and moved her legs apart, settling them on his shoulders. He kissed her folds, sucked on the skin there and then expertly moved his tongue over her sensitive areas.

Olivia grabbed hold of his short hair with one hand, the other over her head clutching the headboard and her head fell back. She felt the tension building inside of her and a matter of moments later she threw her head back violently, her back arched and his name was a faint whisper on her lips, when orgasm hit her.

Elliot lifted his head after her body relaxed and her breathing was slowly getting back to normal. He looked for her eyes, upon finding them, he smirked.

"Don't be so proud of yourself," she snapped.

Elliot moved her thighs from his shoulders and climbed up on her body, smirk playing on his lips. He kissed her and let her taste herself.

"But I am proud of myself," he said proudly. "And you should be too, you do have an expert in your anatomy for a boyfriend," he added.

"Stroking your ego," she commented.

"That too," he agreed.

"Maybe you should be lucky to have a girlfriend, who lets you explore her anatomy and become an expert in that. And I might add, that I know your anatomy just as well," she suggested.

"That too. We should both be lucky to have each other," he said.

"Agreed," Olivia replied.

Olivia shifted her lower body and ran her fingers over her folds, then arched herself towards him and stroked his back sensually.

"You wanna explore my anatomy further?" she asked.

Elliot raised his eyebrows and smiled. Olivia carefully closed her fingers around his erection and guided him inside of her.

"I'll let you know that this part of your anatomy I'm very familiar with," he smirked.

"Oh, that part of me has been frequently around you, so I'd think so," she replied.

"And I fit in you just perfectly," he added.

"Naturally," she replied.

"Let's see if it goes in again?" Elliot suggested with a smile.

Olivia nodded and smiled underneath him.

He pulled out of her, and then carefully, slowly slipped inside again.

"And it still fits," Olivia concluded seriously.

"I'm gonna test that theory one more time," Elliot decided.

Olivia grabbed his buttocks and dug her nails into his skin. "If you try this one more time, you'll be banned from here, you have to test it many times, concurringly, deeply," she deadpanned.

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

Olivia loosened her hold on his firm and trimmed buttocks, with that Elliot moved just as he was ordered inside of her. Olivia helped with the raise of her hips and the moans on her throat, her fingers were between them, helping herself over the edge.

She came hard.

For the second time her orgasm was stronger and Elliot's expert moves inside of her made her come easily. She had a strong hold of him around his neck and she caught his lips just a moment before she orgasmed.

Olivia had been so consumed with her own pleasure, that she hadn't noticed, when Elliot groaned against her lips, when his mouth moved just a little against hers and she barely felt his strong arms pressing her tightly against him.

She noticed a moment later, when she finally opened her eyes after coming down, and felt Elliot's full weight on her. He was completely still, his lips were against her cheek, his hot breath was on her skin, but he didn't make a move. Olivia carelessly moved her hand to his head and kept it there in his short hair.

Both of them were completely still. Their hearts were beating fast, but it slowed down with every passing second and their erratic breathing returned to normal.

"And that's how every morning should start," he finally broke the silence.

"I'm all for it," she agreed. "Hormones have been making me crazy," she added.

Elliot smiled against her cheek. He remembered well, that in the second trimester women could have higher sex drive.

"Then that's how we're gonna start every morning from now on," he decided.

"And end every night," she added.

Elliot lifted his head. "Your wish is my command," he said proudly.

"Oh, I hope so, these hormones are making me so horny all the time," she confirmed his suspicion.

Elliot pressed his elbows on either side of her and lifter himself a bit. "I think those are my favorite kind of hormones," he smirked.

Olivia laughed. "You like them better than my don't-you-dare-touch-me or honey-I-need-pizza-and-peanut-ice-cream-at-4am-and-you-are-going-to-get-that-for-me hormones?" she asked with a joke.

"Definitely," he replied. "After all, I'd rather be touching you all the time than keeping my distance, so I don't even look at you the wrong way."

Elliot silenced her protest with his lips. "I also like your other hormones. I just prefer the ones that make you like me," he added.

"I hate most of my hormones right now," Olivia said.

"Even the ones that make you want me all the time?" Elliot asked.

Olivia laughed. "Most of the time you're not here, when I'm horny and I don't think jumping you in the squad room is appropriate," she said.

"How about that code word for sex? Every time either of us wants to rip other's clothes off and just have sex, we say a word, so the other would understand," Elliot suggested.

"Babe, I'm horny," Olivia said with a smile.

"That's too obvious," Elliot said.

He moved his lips to her neck. "How about I kiss you over here," he said and kissed her down from her ear to her collarbone. Olivia moved her head and gave Elliot more access.

"Oh, that's not obvious at all," Olivia said with sarcasm.

Elliot shook his head against her neck, his light stubble tickled her tender skin, when Elliot kissed and sucked on her skin.

"Are you marking me?" Olivia asked suddenly.

Elliot stopped, lifted his head and winked at Olivia, then got back and continued his work.

"You know I'm going shopping later today, in public?" Olivia asked.

Elliot gave the spot one more kiss and then lifted his head. "It's cold so you can wear a scarf," he said easily.

"It's summer, babe," Olivia replied.

"In that case, you can just show everybody that you belong to somebody," Elliot said.

"Like the fact that I'm buying maternity clothes doesn't cut it," Olivia replied.

Elliot smiled, turned her head to other side and moved on to the untouched side of her neck.

"El, seriously," she whined.

"You're not going to work, I can mark you for everybody else," Elliot tried.

Olivia took his head in her hands and lifted it. "I thought we had an agreement," she said seriously.

Elliot's face fell. Yes, they had agreement that he wouldn't leave her visible marks, though Elliot could give her marks in places only he could see without getting a protest from Olivia.

"El, how about tonight you get one time pass to give me as many hickeys as you'd like, but not right now?" Olivia made an offer.

"How could I say no to this," he said with a smile.

"Tonight," Olivia said firmly and Elliot repeated it.

She released his head, which fell right back to her neck, but Elliot moved more towards her shoulder and picked a spot he had marked before, a place that was underneath her bra strap.

"Why are you so insistent on marking me anyway?" Olivia asked.

"I'm a guy, we like to have everything we own marked. Now let me work on you," he said and latched against her skin again.

He could feel Olivia's body shaking with laughter.

"You might want to shave before tonight though," she commented. Elliot didn't stop. Instead he moved his chin against her skin, tickling her.

Elliot lifted his head and stopped his actions. He leaned heavily against his elbows and looked at her, suddenly very serious.

"What?" Olivia asked.

"Do you wanna get married?" he asked.

"Say what?" she asked just to make sure she heard him right.

"Do you, Olivia Benson, wanna marry me?" he asked in all seriousness.

Olivia stayed silent. A smile disappeared from her face, when she realized that he might actually be serious. They had never discussed marriage before.

"Aren't you supposed to do that on one knee with a ring?" she diverted the question with another question.

"Olivia, I'm serious. I know you're not religious and in the decade we have worked together I've never heard to talk about big white wedding or mentioned getting married, but…" Elliot started, but Olivia interrupted him. She wiggled underneath him until he moved away, so she could sit up. She pulled the cover around her and covered herself from him, while he sat at the other end of the bed in his birthday suit.

"Do you wanna get married?" Olivia asked as bluntly as he had.

Elliot didn't reply. He seemed to calculate his options, vary of anything that could be a wrong move.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he said seriously. "I don't wanna share a bed with anyone other than you. I wanna wake up in the middle of the night, when our baby is crying and go to him or her before you wake up. I wanna come home to you every day, share all the happy moments and the downsides with you. I wanna be your man, in sickness and health, in happiness and through all the obstacles we face. If you have a bad day, I wanna be the reason you smile again. You and the kids are everything, and I want that to be your everything too," he ended his speech.

Olivia stayed quiet.

"I want it all with you, but I don't care if you wear my ring or not. I don't need to possess you or claim you like that, I respect your wishes," he added.

Surprising them both, Olivia started laughing. It was a laughter of joy, happiness and surprise of his sudden proposal, which seemed to be well planned on his part.

"Don't leave me hanging here," he said and joined the laughter.

"Wasn't expecting that," she admitted.

Elliot shrugged his shoulders.

"I've never pictured myself in a white dress in a church. I've never really though about it," she said.

"Well," Elliot said and winked. He climbed up to her again and hovered over her. "I can persuade you if you want," he finished.

"There's no need for that, I know full well what you're made of," she said.

Elliot smirked, he was proud of himself. He kissed her cheek lightly.

"I still want an answer, Liv," he reminded her.

Years gone and currently in a loving relationship, Olivia was still the young woman, who had lost her ability to trust men long before she turned 20. All through first bad encounters with guys to finding out the truth about her father to working in sex crimes for a decade, she was still the girl, who ran away from relationships. She had become so used to having one foot at the door in case she needs to bolt, she stopped thinking about meeting her prince Charming or settling down with a guy. She'd barely had any serious relationships before Elliot. And by the time she started sleeping with him, she had given up on marriage, white horse, in sickness and in health and all the rest that follows. The only question is now: Does she want to get married?

"I don't want to be with anyone, but you," she said seriously. "That's all I know." She continued with a smile. "I love you, Elliot Stabler," she said.

"But…" Elliot started.

"But…" Olivia confirmed, but then fell silent. "I don't know if I want to marry you."

Elliot raised an eyebrow.

"Or anyone for that matter. I don't know if I want to get married," she clarified.

Elliot nodded and accepted her answer or the lack of that.

"Think about it and if you decide that you want to go to city hall or have a big church wedding, then you know, that I'm all for it," he said.

"Thank you," Olivia said and let out a breath she had been holding ever since Elliot popped the question.

Elliot leaned back down and kissed her lazily. He used his strength to coax her back onto her back and he hovered over her, the bedsheet between their bodies.

He wrapped his arm around her and rolled them over. "Might as well. Now we don't have to worry about premarital sex," he joked.

"Yeah, I think we're well past that," she agreed.

"And we'd need to get married really fast once you'd find the wedding dress that fits. You're putting on sizes really fast for the next few months," he joked, but Olivia didn't share the humor and hit his chest. Elliot grunted.

"It's your fault you know," she accused.

"Yeah," he said with a smile.

Olivia leaned up and kissed him passionately.

"You wanna have some more premarital sex with a woman carrying your illegitimate love child, mister?" Olivia asked seductively.

Elliot laughed, he grabbed her head with both of his hands and pressed his lips against hers.

"I just offered to make our child legitimate and you an honest woman," he protested.

"Isn't it too late for that?" Olivia asked.

"For marriage?" Elliot asked.

"To make me an honest woman," she clarified. "I think it's rather obvious that I'm not a virgin."

Elliot ran his hand over her back. "Mmm, it's a good thing. It's making this man rally happy," he said, when he grabbed a hold of her bottom.

"Therefore you should be satisfied with this illegitimate baby on the way," she concluded.

"Stop calling our baby illegitimate or love child or something worse," he reprimanded.

Olivia nodded. She tugged on his side, to roll them back over, which he did. He moved the thin cover over her body and admired her for a moment.

"Just for the record, I'd totally marry you in a heartbeat, anywhere, anytime and I'm not offering just because you're pregnant," he said seriously.

Olivia rolled her eyes in desperation. "What does a woman have to do to get laid here?" she asked rhetorically.

"Sorry, honey, I got distracted," he apologized quickly and obliged to his hormonal pregnant wife, who seemed to be always hungry or horny or both and Elliot didn't mind one single bit. He happily tended to Olivia, when she was in need of anything. And of course making love to her, was always one of his favorite things to do.

***SVU***

Next past weeks were rather quiet at the SVU, so there was nothing surprising, when Elliot got back home at 6 pm with dinner.

"Honey, I'm home," he announced from the hallway, where he dropped his coat.

Getting no reply, he looked over the living room area and placed their dinner on the kitchen desk. There was no sign that Olivia had been there, which was slightly unusual.

"Liv," he called and kept on moving towards the bedroom. He opened the bedroom door and he was not prepared for what he found.

"Olivia," he said and finally she looked up and registered his presence.

"Oh, hi, El," she said casually.

"What the hell happened here?" he asked and looked around.

Their bed was covered in Olivia's clothes, there was a giant pile on the chair by the closet and some random items on the floor. Olivia herself was wearing a t-shirt he couldn't recall seeing before, but he could say with fair accuracy that it was from period before she was pregnant. The shirt was a bit too short and tight, her small baby bump was visible between her shirt and pair of his shorts.

"Did the spring cleaning come early?" Elliot asked again.

"I have too many clothes and there is no way that I can fit all of them in the closet," she explained.

Elliot loosened his tie and took a step towards her. He kissed the top of her head and looked over the mess.

"You can throw away some of the old things," he suggested.

"I was thinking of doing that," she said. "Then I thought I might throw away the clothes that are too small or too big, but I don't think I have things that are too big anyway," she continued.

Elliot figured that explains the odd choice of t-shirt she was wearing. Not that he was complaining though, he had learned his lesson about women and clothes decades ago. And he was not about to make any comment about how something looks on her anyway. He had learned that lesson as well.

"But all of my clothes are too small, except the maternity stuff I got," she explained.

He sat down behind her and wrapped one arm around her, so it ended up on her bump. He kissed the side of her head and looked over the piles of clothes.

"I can't know if these clothes are gonna fit after I get my body back or should I just throw them out," she continued.

Elliot could see her problem, but there was nothing he could do to help her. Yet he knew that he had to approach carefully otherwise he'd end up with blame and frustrated Olivia in his hands.

"You can use my side of the closet, I'm sure I can make some room for you there," he offered.

"No, you can't throw away your clothes, because for the rest of my suspension, that's what I'll be wearing," she protested.

Olivia shook her head. "I found this t-shirt and I really like it, but baby Stabler cannot fit inside, do I throw it away or do it keep it?" Olivia asked him.

Elliot stood up from the bed and held his hand for her. She took it and Elliot helped her up. He looked her up and down, but instead of deciding if she should keep it or not, he thought of ten different things he could do with her, once that shirt comes off.

"You're ogling," she pointed out.

"No, I'm admiring you," he replied.

"Of course, you are," she said sarcastically.

Elliot pulled her against him and he kissed her lips.

"Hi," he said with a smile. "How are you today?"

"I'm obviously frustrated. And you're diverting," she accused.

"Yeah, is it working?" he asked still smiling.

Olivia shook her head.

Elliot pushed her hair away of his way and kissed her neck just above the shirt. He moved the shirt up on her back and placed his palms against her vertebra.

"El," Olivia said.

Elliot reacted by kissing her lips once again. He replaced his lips with his finger over her lips, then used his hand to make her turn her head and kissed the side of her neck he just exposed for himself.

Before he could get too far, Elliot stopped himself, pecked her lips and looked proud of himself.

"I missed you," he said.

"I felt that," she replied.

She leaned up to give Elliot another kiss.

"I bought dinner," he remembered.

"The way to woman's heart," she joked.

"At least to this woman's heart," he confirmed.

Elliot took Olivia's hand and led them to living room, when Olivia made abrupt stop. "No, I can't do it, the shirt is way too tight," she said and descended into the bedroom. Elliot chuckled to himself, but when Olivia reappeared he started laughing.

"What?" she asked.

"You have your clothes all over the bedroom, yet you chose to take my shirt," he said. Yes, Olivia was now wearing Elliot's clothes.

"You never had a problem with that before," she defended herself.

Elliot closed the distance and kissed her deeply. "I love it, when you wear my clothes," he said. He was eyeing her and quite certainly thinking about taking the clothes off her.

"Can we make it through dinner before you want to remove all my clothes?" Olivia asked.

"No promises," he said mischievously.

Ever since Olivia started showing and glowing, Elliot was having hard time keeping his hands off her. It was only multiplied by Olivia's hormonal change, which gave her heightened sex drive. It was also the first time during their relationship, when they weren't working together, because of Olivia's suspension and therefore didn't spend every day together, there were days when Elliot didn't make it back home and they went days without seeing each other.

"Well, I don't really wanna be bent over the kitchen table tonight, so if we're not gonna make it through the dinner I suggest we'll have sex before food," she said bluntly.

Elliot loved the way she took control and demanded sex or in some instances was so blunt about it like at that moment. They both knew it was gonna happen, but Olivia made sure it happened on her terms.

"Eat first," Elliot decided.

Olivia nodded.

They took their seats by the kitchen table and opened their dinner. Olivia had been craving chicken pasta majority of her pregnancy, so that's what Elliot brought her. He had a beef lasagna for himself. Olivia talked about her day cleaning her closet, Elliot filled her in with the open cases and the case they closed on that day, sparing her the details.

True to their previous agreement just after dinner Olivia led Elliot to the bedroom, threw her clothes in a pile on the floor and got down on her back. Elliot wasted no time in undressing himself and getting on top of Olivia. He made her come two times just by using his mouth and third time while he was buried deep inside of her. Yes, he was proud of himself.

Afterwards they got dressed and started sorting through Olivia's clothes once again, but making little to no process. In the end half of the clothes were back in the closet, but the other half was still around the floor.

They barely heard the door unlocking and opening. Elliot managed to climb over Olivia to place himself before the door and her, but he was yet to locate his gun.

"Dad, Olivia," Kathleen called.

Both detectives relaxed.

"In the bedroom," Elliot yelled.

"Kathleen called, she's wanted to spend the night here, her communal service went late in Manhattan and it's pretty late to go back to Queens," Olivia explained quickly.

"Since when does Kathleen call you instead of me?" Elliot asked.

Olivia shrugged her shoulders and at that moment Kathleen appeared on the doorway.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting some…" Kathleen started, but then she noticed the room and the mess Olivia's clothes had made in there. "What happened here?" she asked.

"Just cleaning out some clothes," Olivia said quickly.

"Trying to clean," Elliot clarified.

So far they had only found few shirts and work pants, that Olivia decided she'd never wear again. Most of the stuff was still between being thrown away or being put back in the closet. There was a forming pile of clothes Olivia thought she wouldn't wear again.

"I picked up my share of trash today, I will not get involved here," Kathleen decided and disappeared from the doorway. Olivia tilted her head for Elliot to follow his daughter. He thanked her quietly, kissed her head and left the mess of bedroom behind.

Olivia tried to make some order, but after a bit gave up, she just pushed all her clothes to the corner of the room. She didn't need all those clothes anyway, considering she was mainly wearing Elliot's things.

She reappeared in the living room area, where Elliot and Kathleen were in vivid conversation about her community service as punishment. From the outraged voice, Olivia was certain, that Kathleen was displeased with her punishment. Elliot on the other hand could do nothing and he in a way supported the decision. Olivia did her absolute best to stay away just as she always did, when it came to Elliot's kids.

Olivia walked past the living room area and went straight to the kitchen, where she grabbed a yoghurt, something she seemed to be craving daily.

"Liv, how's your suspension going?" Kathleen asked and crossed her hands.

"Bored out of my mind," Olivia replied cautiously.

"How long until you're going back?" Kathleen asked.

"17 days," Olivia replied.

Kathleen turned to Elliot. "I have still 2 months left on my community service, how come Liv only has like a month off," Kathleen pouted.

"35 days," Olivia said underneath her breath, but she doubted that Elliot nor Kathleen heard her.

Elliot lifted his hands and held them out. "Judge made the decision, not me," he defended himself. "And you should be lucky do only to community service and no jail time," Elliot added seriously.

"I bet you can't wait to go back to work," Kathleen said to Olivia.

"Oh, and how," Olivia said with a sigh.

Elliot chuckled. Not that he'd ever admit it to Olivia, but he was kind of glad that Olivia wasn't working in her current state. He also knew that most of the perps will use her pregnancy against her and he can't guarantee that he'll control himself, when that happens.

"She's cleaning her closet, which hasn't happened in years," Elliot teased.

"And that's exactly why I need to do it," Olivia justified herself.

"Why do you need so many clothes anyway?" Elliot asked.

"Dad, isn't she wearing your clothes?" Kathleen asked.

Elliot nodded proudly.

Olivia threw her empty yoghurt jar to trash and walked over to the Stablers on the couch, she took a seat in the armchair.

"Oh, you're really showing," Kathleen said.

Olivia moved Elliot's shirt around her subconsciously.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked.

Kathleen studied Olivia for a long moment and then shook her head. "I think you can still hide it, but if one knows what to look for then yes, it's there," she gave her answer. "Dad's shirt is doing a good job though," Kathleen added.

"You look gorgeous as ever," Elliot said automatically.

Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Does your Captain know about it?" Kathleen asked.

Olivia nodded. "I told the guys few days ago and they seemed to be really happy. They also want to stop by sometime," Elliot informed.

"And mom?"

Elliot shook his head. They told his kids weeks ago, but Kathy was still in the dark. He was always planning on telling Kathy, but somehow he couldn't bring himself down to doing that. The kids took the news really well, even Dickie congratulated Olivia and Elliot, Kathleen and Maureen already offered to babysit and Lizzy was happy that she was no longer the youngest kid.

"Are you ever gonna tell mom?" Kathleen asked.

"Yes, I will. I haven't seen your mother properly and we never had time to talk, but I will. Of course I will," Elliot promised.

"Dad, will you marry Olivia now?" Kathleen asked.

"What?" Olivia asked.

"Dickie thinks that you will, but Elizabeth doesn't think you will," Kathleen explained.'

Elliot glanced at horrified Olivia. "I proposed to her and she told me no," Elliot said casually.

Kathleen flung herself off the couch so she was standing in front of Olivia.

"What?" Kathleen said in surprise.

"I didn't tell you no," Olivia said.

"You didn't tell me yes either," Elliot pouted.

Kathleen was between looking at her father and Olivia, neither seemed to have a good answer.

"I love your dad and I want to spend the rest of my life with him, but I'm just not sure if I wanna get married. I didn't turn him down," Olivia defended herself.

"And you're okay with it, daddy?" Kathleen turned to Elliot.

Elliot stood up and came to stand behind Olivia. He looked down at his partner, his love and the soon to be mother of his youngest child. He smiled and nodded at Kathleen.

"I love Olivia and I know she loves me. That's all that matters. If we get married then it is because we want to, not because society. Yes, I'd like it very much, if she'd wear my ring, but I don't need her to do it," Elliot said honestly.

"I might add, that pregnancy is probably stronger claim than any ring," Olivia added.

"See, honey, we are good," Elliot said to Kathleen.

Kathleen sat down on the couch and yawned.

"And this is too much excitement for you young lady," he said to his daughter. He took the extra blanket, pillow and sheet from the cupboard in the living room and threw that on the couch. Then he held his arm up for Olivia and helped her up. "Bed time for you too miss Benson," he mocked.

"Night," Olivia said to Kathleen.

"Night Liv," Kathleen replied.

"Good night honey," Elliot said to Kathleen and kissed her temple.

"Night, dad," Kathleen replied.

Elliot took Olivia's hand and let her to the bedroom, closed the door behind them and looked over the mess of a room.

"I'll clean it up tomorrow," Olivia promised.

Elliot nodded. They brushed their teeth together and got to bed. Olivia pulled on another one of Elliot's shirts and pair of shorts, while the man just rolled his eyes.

"Like I need a ring to claim you. You claim to be mine all on your own," he joked.

"Yeah, because my clothes are too small," she replied.

Elliot turned to his side to turn off the lights, but something silver peeking through the drawer caught his eyes and he opened it fully. There they were. His old dog tags. Even though he doesn't wear them, he is still a marine. He took the necklace out of the drawer and ran his fingers over his name, blood type and at the bottom his religious beliefs.

"All good?" Olivia asked from her side. She was there with her eyes closed and didn't see the object in his hands.

"Yeah, all good," Elliot replied.

Still he didn't turn off the light, instead he was staring at his dog tags. Olivia pushed herself up on her elbow and looked at Elliot.

"El?" she asked again.

Elliot took his tags and put them around her neck. Olivia took a moment to realize what he'd done.

"Not so long ago, you didn't even know my blood type. I want you to know everything. You are the woman I was born to love. You are the reason I am alive," Elliot said. He had his fingers over the tags. "And I lied, I want to claim you. I want everybody to know, that you're mine. Back in the day this would've been it. I support feminism and everything, I will never do anything to hurt you, and I will never take away your freedom, but I still want to feel like your mine. And I want others to see it," he explained.

"Elliot Stabler," Olivia said, but stopped abruptly. He leaned forward and kissed him. She pulled him down to bed with her. "Yes, I will marry you someday. Not today, not tomorrow, not while I am pregnant, but I think that there will come a day, when I am ready for marriage. Someday, Stabler," she said seriously.

"Thank you," Elliot said gratefully.

He leaned down to kiss her again, while doing that he could feel the metal of his dog tags around her neck against his chest. He smiled into the kiss and climbed halfway on top of her. There she was: the woman of his dreams, his future wife and the mother of his child. His reason to do anything, everything. Olivia Benson means everything to him. And she is giving him another reason to wake up, to do this job, to try to make the city a little bit safer. Another reason to live.