Celine watched Olivia for a minute before letting a slow smile spread across her face, "You have my permission."
Olivia let out the breath she'd been holding. "Thank you."
Celine placed a gentle hand on Olivia's forearm, "I just want you to know that we already consider you part of the family. You make Alex happier than I've ever seen her. I wanted to thank you for that."
"I will do everything in my power to keep Alex that happy for the rest of my life," Olivia promised.
"I know you will," Celine smiled and pulled Olivia into a motherly hug.
"Now tell me," Celine pulled back with curious eyes, "How are you going to ask her?"
Olivia smirked, "Well I…"
Alex walked out of the conference room, exhausted. The meeting had lasted four hours. That was four hours of Branch talking or the Executive ADAs squabbling.
She took out her phone and dialed as she walked to her car.
"Benson," Olivia answered.
Alex smiled at the sound of Olivia's voice and replied with her own, very tired voice, "Hey baby."
"Hey," she could hear Olivia's smile over the phone, "How was the meeting?"
"Not something I'll talk about without a bath and a tumbler of bourbon," Alex replied sinking into her car and laying her head on the steering wheel, "Actually I think I'll head home."
"Do you think you'll feel like going out later tonight?" Olivia asked innocently.
"Yeah," Alex replied, "After my bath and bourbon."
Olivia chuckled, "Have fun and be careful. I love you."
"I love you too," Alex answered and hung up.
When Olivia got home she found Alex asleep, in a bathrobe, on the couch with a half empty tumbler of bourbon in her hand. She smiled, taking the drink out of Alex's limp hand and setting it on the coffee table. In one strong swoop, Olivia picked Alex up and cradled her like a baby. She slowly walked to the bedroom and laid Alex on the bed. After placing a soft kiss on Alex's forehead, Olivia went to take a shower.
A few minutes later, Alex slowly opened her eyes and looked around. This was not where she fell asleep. She snuggled into the pillow when she heard the shower running. When she heard the shower turn off, she rolled over to face the bathroom door.
Olivia stepped out of the bathroom in a towel, her damp hair handing idly around her face. She smiled when she saw Alex, "Hey sweetheart."
"Hi," Alex smiled back and warmly accepted the kiss Olivia had bent over to give her, while trying to take advantage of the view the towel afforded her of the bent over detective.
Olivia caught her and laughed.
Alex smirked and laid back down, "Do I need to go do my hair or can I just put it up?"
"You can put it up," Olivia replied, "We're not going anywhere fancy."
"Okay," Alex stretched.
"Anything interesting happen at your meeting today?" Olivia asked.
"I'm getting a Deputy Bureau Chief," Alex replied with a smile.
Olivia grabbed some clothes out of the closet, "Anyone I know?"
"Yeah," Alex leaned back, "It's Serena, but she doesn't know yet so don't tell her."
Olivia started to rifle through her underwear drawer, "Have you ever worked with her before?"
"In college," Alex answered, "And we used to live together. We used to fight all the time, but ten minutes later we went to lunch and it was all okay."
Olivia tossed some of Alex's clothes onto the bed along with her red lacy lingerie.
Alex raised an eyebrow, "Expecting something tonight detective?"
"Maybe," Olivia replied with a small smirk.
Alex grabbed the red lacy bottoms and slid them on under her robe. Then she stretched again, the robe parting below the waist to show off the delicate garment and her long, slender legs.
Olivia took in the sight in front of her, praying that Alex could make her feel this way for the rest of their lives.
Alex moved off of the bed and stood in front of Olivia. She moved some hair out of Olivia's eyes with the back of her fingers. "You know what?"
"Huh?" Olivia asked pulling at the belt on Alex's robe.
"I love you," Alex gently pressed her lips against Olivia's.
After Alex broke the kiss, Olivia pulled her into a loving embrace. "I love you too Alex."
Alex kissed Olivia's cheek then rested her head on Olivia's shoulder, "Have I told you today how lucky I feel to have you?"
Olivia smiled, "No, not today."
"Well, Olivia Benson," Alex pulled back a little to look into Olivia's eyes, "I feel extremely lucky to have you in my life."
"That goes double for me," Olivia gently kissed Alex before pulling away completely, "Now get dressed."
Alex smiled, "Well, since you're already dressed, why don't you go watch TV while I make myself pretty."
"Okay," Olivia replied and walked down the hallway.
"Hey!" Alex called, "That was the part where you say, 'you're always pretty to me.'"
"You're always pretty to me!" Olivia called back.
Alex laughed and started getting dressed.
Olivia fell back onto the couch, smiling at the sound of Alex's distant laugh, and flipped on the TV. Some guy was interviewing some other guy. The host was bleach blonde and over the top and the man her was interviewing was tall, dark and brooding.
"What would you say is the best thing about marriage?" the host asked.
The TV turned off and a more feminine voice answered the question, "Spousal privilege."
Olivia raised an eyebrow at Alex, "Are you serious?"
Alex laughed, "No. As a prosecutor that's one of the most irritating things about marriage."
"And as human?" Olivia smiled and stood.
"Are you saying prosecutors aren't humans?" Alex asked following Olivia to the door.
Olivia helped her put her coat on, "No, I mean as a civilian."
Alex shrugged, "I have no idea. I've never been married before."
Olivia was clearly driving somewhere that was outside of the city so Alex reclined her seat and relaxed. Olivia smiled and threaded her fingers through Alex's. She brought Alex's hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles.
About an hour later, Olivia pulled to a stop by a burger place before taking off again. By the time they got to the intended destination, it was completely dark outside. She pulled off of a paved road and a few minutes down a dirt road. When she stopped, she looked at Alex who was watching her intently.
"Should I ask?" Alex turned in her seat toward Olivia.
Olivia shook her head.
Alex shrugged and got out of the car.
Olivia grabbed her flashlight out of the backseat, checked to make sure the centerpiece for the evening was in her pocket, and walked to Alex who was leaning on the hood.
The moon lit up their surroundings enough so that Alex could see a trail in front of the car. "We're not going to get eaten are we?"
Olivia laughed, "Would I take you anywhere you'd get eaten?"
The moon lit up Alex's smile.
Olivia held out her hand, "C'mon."
Alex took Olivia's hand and followed her down the wooded trail. They walked for a while before coming up on a small pond. Alex blinked once. It looked like there were little green and blue lights sporadically placed at the bottom of the pond. She blinked again and they were still there.
Olivia smiled at the confusion on Alex's face.
Alex looked closer, "Are those glow sticks?"
"Mmmaybe," Olivia smirked. She pulled Alex over to a small rowboat with a blanket in it, that was on the side of the pond. She helped Alex in before shoving off and jumping in before stepping in the water. Olivia rowed to the middle of the pond and stopped so that they were floating in the middle. She looked over at Alex who was staring at the lights at the bottom of the pond.
"Yes they're glow sticks," Olivia chuckled.
"I knew it," Alex looked at Olivia smuggly.
Olivia smiled, looking up at the clear sky, seeing a million stars in the sky.
"I haven't seen stars like this since before I moved here," Alex stated, looking up at the sky, "I used to be able to take a few steps away from my house and see more stars than I could count."
"We'll have to come out here more often huh?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah," Alex replied, taking a deep breath of the clear air.
Olivia laid down in the bottom of the boat and Alex cuddled up next to her. After a few minutes of stargazing and playful kisses, they'd hit the opposite shore. Olivia got up, forcing Alex to get up. Alex went to sit on the seat at the front of the boat while Olivia used an oar to push off of the shore.
She paused to just look at Alex. The sight took her breath away. Alex was looking up at the stars, all of her hair falling away from her face, showing off all the delicate features of her face.
This was it. She'd read about it and seen it on TV, but to feel it was completely different. To feel the perfect moment.
Olivia carefully stepped over to Alex and stood in front of her. Alex smiled sweetly up, all of the love she had for Olivia filling her eyes. Olivia offered her hands to Alex who took them and stood up.
Olivia was definitely nervous, but she took a deep breath and started speaking, "Alex, there's no one I've ever met that makes me feel the way you make me feel. I love coming home to you or waiting for you to come home each day. I love waking up next to you each morning. You make me feel loved and safe and so many other wonderful emotions that can't be put into words. I love you more that I thought I could love anyone. You're my everything and I hope that I do or will someday make you feel the way you make me feel," Olivia got down on one knee and pulled the small velvet box out of her pocket. When she opened it, Alex silently gasped. Olivia offered the ring to Alex, "I can't stand the thought of living my life without you right there with me. Alex," she paused, "Will you marry me?"
This storyline will be continued in the sequel Deepest Blue.