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EPILOGUE

Alex sighed with relief as she walked through the front door of the immaculately restored Brownstone she and Olivia had bought not long after they found out their latest in vitro attempt had been successful. It had been a long week at the office and she was very much looking forward to some quiet time at home with her family. She cocked her head to the side to listen for the sounds of her wife and children as she ducked into her home office that opened onto the foyer to set her satchel down onto her desk where it would remain forgotten until Sunday evening when she would review the upcoming case load for her prosecutors; and she frowned when she didn't hear a thing.

As anyone with small children can attest, quiet is not a good thing. Quiet means trouble.

It had been nearly seven years since she and Olivia had said "I do" and though much had changed – Olivia had replaced Don Cragen as the Caption for the sixteenth precinct's SVU division and she, herself, was now a bureau chief within the District Attorney's office – so much had stayed the same. She still smiled when she woke up in the morning to find that one of Olivia's hands had, once again, wrapped itself around her breast while they slept. She still got an undeniable thrill from arguing with the passionate brunette. She still got butterflies in her stomach whenever Olivia would hold her close and whisper "I love you" in her ear.

Of course, the biggest changes to their lives were not their jobs, but their motivation for doing their jobs well. It had taken six tries before they got a positive pregnancy test, and they had cried together as they stared at the ridiculously unsanitary stick that had two distinct lines in the window that confirmed they were pregnant.

Six months later, Alex was put on bed rest, which did not go over well at all with the perpetually active attorney. Seven weeks after that, the triplets were born. Each weighed in at three pounds and change – a healthy weight for their gestational age and the fact that there were three of them in utero – and they spent the first four weeks of their lives in the neonatal intensive care unit at the very same hospital Olivia and Alex had been taken to when Walker had attacked them at that club in the Village.

They were, thankfully, past the stage of never-ending sleepless nights as the triplets had just celebrated their third birthday and they were now fully immersed in the land of awe and wonder. The kids thought everything was amazing. They loved to build and explore, and they each had a unique take on the world that never failed to surprise their mothers.

Alex sighed as she started up the stairs to the main living floor and she smiled as she heard Olivia talking with the kids.

"Mommy, when Momma coming home?"

"Well, I'd imagine it should be soon," Olivia answered, and Alex didn't doubt for a moment that her wife had heard her come in. "She did promise to bring home pizza for dinner, after all."

"Oh shit," Alex muttered as she smacked her hand to her forehead. She'd forgotten about the pizza.

Olivia laughed and said in an even louder voice, "But it's okay if she forgot because we had lots of fun making lasagna earlier, didn't we guys?"

"Yeah!" the triplets yelled.

Alex laughed as she peeked through the railing at her wife and children. Olivia was sitting on the floor with her back against the couch, with Ross on her lap and Bobby and Ryan on either side of her. All three of the boys were in their pajamas, and they looked to be freshly bathed. That alone told her that they had quite a bit of fun 'helping' Olivia make dinner. "Hey guys!"

"Momma!" the boys hollered as they jumped to their feet and went running toward Alex. Each boy was pure Cabot, with blonde hair and sharp blue eyes, and though Alex had dreamt of having a child with Olivia's coloring – they had even used a donor who had dark hair and eyes like the brunette but, as Olivia had said, Cabot genes are more dominant than dominant genes any day – she couldn't deny the rush of pride she felt as she looked at her three mini-me's.

"Did you miss me?" Alex asked as she hurried up the stairs and through the baby gate that blocked the top so that she could greet the boys properly.

"We aways miss you, Momma!" Bobby said as he jumped at her.

She caught him mid-leap and swept him up into a fierce hug. "Oh, I missed you, buddy."

"Missed you too," Bobby said, smiling as he kissed her cheek. "We maked dinner."

"Did you now?" Alex asked as she set Bobby down and picked up Ryan, who was standing on her feet and trying to climb up her legs. "Hey pal."

"Momma," Ryan purred, smiling as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. From the moment he'd been born, he had always been more attached to her than Olivia and she sighed as she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a firm squeeze. "I wuv you."

"I love you too, sweetie," Alex whispered, pressing soft kiss to his chubby cheek.

"My turn! My turn!" Ross yelled as he danced around Alex.

Alex went to put Ryan down so she could greet her other son, but he tightened his hold on her neck so she just sighed and squatted down to pick Ross up as well. "Did you have a good day, bug?" she asked him as she pushed herself back up. She huffed as she straightened her legs and shook her head. They were getting too big for her to pick more than one of them up at the same time.

"Bestest day eber!" Ross said, throwing his arms around his mom and his brother. He was the most laid-back of the boys, and never seemed to mind sharing his mothers' attention with his brothers.

"Bestest day ever, huh?" Alex asked, arching a brow at Olivia who was standing in front of her with a soft smile on her face. She grinned and kissed the brunette quickly. "What did you four get up to today?"

"Nothing. Right boys?" Olivia said, winking conspiratorially at her sons. She'd taken the day off because their nanny couldn't take the boys due to a doctor's appointment, and they'd spent the day wandering through the zoo and eating all of the delicious junk food that they could find.

"Wight, Mommy," the boys answered in perfect synchronicity.

Alex laughed. "Your mother coached you well."

"Thanks, babe," Olivia replied with a smile. She looked at the kids and added, "Why don't you three go get in your chairs and we'll have dinner."

"Yea!" Ross yelled, deafening Alex in the process. He wiggled out of her arms and dropped to the floor, and took off at a gallop toward the dining room table. "Yummy, yummy food!"

"We maked dinner for you," Ryan said proudly as he tightened his hold on his mother. He was looking for a ride to the table.

Alex smiled and kissed his forehead. "That's what Bobby said. What did you guys make?"

"Lasama."

"My favorite. Thanks pal."

"It was Mommy's idea."

"Well, I'll make sure to thank her too," Alex assured him.

"Promise?" Olivia asked, grinning at the blonde as she waggled her brows suggestively.

"If you're a good girl," Alex replied as she set Ryan into his chair at the table.

Olivia laughed and nodded. "I can be good."

Alex laughed and walked around the end of the table to kiss her wife properly. "You can be many things, love. And I adore all of them. Now, do you need help getting dinner out?"

The offer was tempting, but just as Olivia was about to say yes the boys started drumming their silverware on the tabletop. "Why don't you chill with the monsters and I'll get it."

Alex glanced back at the boys, who all folded their hands in their laps – silverware included – and smiled innocently at her. "Oh my god."

"It's like looking at three Adams," Olivia agreed, kissing the blonde's temple quickly before she disappeared into the kitchen to get the kids' food.

"Lord help us both," Alex muttered, barely suppressing the shudder that threatened to roll through her at the very idea of having three of her brother running around. "So, guys, did you have fun with Mommy today?"

Three towheads nodded vigorously.

"We goed to the zoo," Ryan told her.

Alex arched a brow at her son as she sat down in her chair beside him. "Which animal was your favorite?"

"The powar bear!" Ryan and Bobby yelled.

Alex smiled and turned to Ross. "How about you, bug?"

He grinned and held up his little hand. "The wepord. His paws are bidder dan mine!"

"No way!" Alex replied, laughing. She smiled at Olivia as the brunette came out of the kitchen with little plates of lasagna and garlic bread balanced in her hands. "Ooh, look guys. Mommy's got dinner for you!"

"Yea, Mommy!" the boys cheered.

Alex just smiled and watched as Olivia set a plate in front of each boy – blue for Bobby, red for Ryan, and green for Ross. "It looks delicious, sweetie."

Olivia grinned. "Thanks. I'll just go get their sippys and then I'll bring out our food."

It was a simple meal completely devoid of fanfare, but it was everything they both could have dreamt of. After dinner, they all cleaned up. The boys were given damp paper towels to scrub their placemats, which kept them occupied for a handful of minutes as they tried to get every spot of sauce off their animal-themed placemat that their Uncle Adam had gotten them – and once everything was as clean as it was going to get at the moment, they settled into the family room to watch an episode of Go Diego Go before the boys' bedtime.

Alex smiled as she came back downstairs from doling out her share of the goodnight kisses and changing into a pair of black yoga pants and an old Yale hoodie to find Olivia sitting on the couch pouring some wine into a couple of glasses on the coffee table. "You read my mind," she said softly as she rounded the end of the couch to sit beside her wife.

"How did the meeting with Branch go?" Olivia asked as he handed the blonde a glass full of cabernet.

"It went," Alex said, shrugging as she gratefully lifted the glass of wine to her lips. "Oooh, that's good," she murmured approvingly.

"What did he have to say?"

"He's got a bug up his butt about our win percentage because it's an election year. Nothing new."

"I thought your guys were over eighty percent."

"We are," Alex said, smiling proudly. Her division had the highest conviction rate in the city.

"So what's the problem?"

"Liz is running against him and he knows he's gonna lose," Alex replied as she took another slow sip of her wine. She sighed happily as she leaned into the brunette and rested her head on her shoulder. "The whole time I was there, I was wishing that I was with you and the boys."

"Aww, sweetie," Olivia murmured as she wrapped her arm around Alex's shoulders and turned her head to press a slow kiss to the blonde's temple. "We would have loved to have had you go with us too, but they knew you had to work."

"Stupid work," Alex grumbled as she turned to capture Olivia's lips in a sweet kiss. She smiled into it as she felt the brunette's fingers thread through her hair and hold her close, and she purred contentedly as the need for air forced them apart. "I love you."

"Love you too," Olivia murmured as she leaned in and captured Alex's lips in another languid kiss.

The sound of little feet running around upstairs pulled them apart and Alex laughed as Olivia held her fist out at her. She mimicked the action and said, "On three."

"One… two… three," Olivia said, and she lifted her arms triumphantly when her paper beat Alex's rock. "Your turn."

"Stupid game," Alex grumbled playfully as she took another long drink of her wine before she set her glass onto the table and heaved herself up off the couch. "All right, here comes the tickle monster to get any little boys who aren't in bed!" she yelled as she started up the stairs.

Loud giggles rained down the stairwell as the triplets went bombing back into their room to hide from the tickle monster.

"Not me, Momma!" Bobby screamed as she poked her head into their room. For now they were still in what had been their nursery, but once they were too big for their toddler beds they would be moving up to their own rooms on the fourth floor. "No tickle!"

"Not me!" Ross and Ryan echoed.

Alex grinned and walked into the boys' room to level her sons with a serious look. "It's bedtime, guys. We have a busy day tomorrow, remember?"

"Auntie Abbie's getting maywied," Bobby said, nodding.

"That's right. And she and Auntie Serena are going to need their ring bearers to be in tip-top shape for the ceremony so you guys need to go to bed. You got it?"

"Yes ma'am," Ryan answered. "I sowwy."

"Us too. Wight Woss?" Bobby piped up.

"Yeah. We sowwy Momma."

"No reason to be sorry, guys," Alex assured them with a gentle smile. "We need to leave super-early tomorrow to go out to Auntie Maggie's house for the wedding, so no more playing around."

"Yes ma'am," they all murmured.

Alex sighed and walked from bed to bed, dropping another kiss to each of their foreheads before she made her way back to the door. "I don't want to hear any more running around up here. Got it?"

"We gots it," Ryan assured her.

"Good boys. I love you."

"Wuv you too, Momma," they chorused as she stepped out of the door and closed it after herself. She stood at the top of the stairs listening for the sound of little bodies getting out of bed, but their room was surprisingly quiet.

She shook her head as she started back down the stairs and she chuckled as she walked into the family room to find Olivia yawning on the couch. "I thought you wanted a little somethin' somethin' tonight."

"I always want that," Olivia assured her with a grin. "I'm just tired after chasing after the boys all day. They're like little Energizer bunnies, they never stop!"

Alex nodded understandingly. The boys were little bundles of boundless energy. "What'd you do while they napped?"

"I made some calls and did some paperwork that I'd brought home with me instead."

"Stupid work," Alex grumbled for her.

"Exactly," Olivia agreed. "So, are they down for the count?"

"I think so," Alex said with a nod. "They looked pretty exhausted when we put them down the first time, I'm honestly surprised they got up at all."

"I think they wanted a little more momma time," Olivia said sagely.

"Probably," Alex agreed as she leaned forward to pick up her wine glass. "So… I propose we give them another twenty to make sure they're really down for the night, and then maybe we can go to bed?"

Olivia grinned and chinked her glass against Alex's. "I love how you think, Counselor. You have yourself a deal."

Twenty minutes later, the boys had yet to make another peep and Olivia followed Alex up the stairs to their room. She paused for a moment to lock the baby-gate over the stairs as Alex listened at the boys' door to make sure they were asleep, and she smiled as she took the blonde's hand and led her down the hall to their bedroom.

So much had changed since they'd said "I do", but the way her heart seemed to swoop up into her throat at the very idea of making love to Alex was just as strong as ever.

Olivia pulled Alex into her arms beside the bed and smiled as she leaned in to capture her lips in a kiss that was slow and sweet and hungry all at the same time. They undressed each other as they kissed, fingers sliding over newly exposed skin, scratching, grabbing, stroking, massaging as the fire building between them grew.

The sheets were cool against their skin as they tumbled into bed but neither paid much attention to the chill of the smooth cotton beneath them as they lost themselves in the feeling of the other. A twist of her hips had Olivia hovering above Alex and she smiled adoringly down at the blonde as she slid her hands over the attorney's arms until she was able to twine their fingers together. Arms stretched upward as mouths came together with a fiery passion, tongues slipping hotly around each other as they shifted by inches until they found that blissful state of being where they were exactly as close as they needed to be.

Strong thighs pressed against soft skin and rocking hips painted broad stripes of sticky desire over corded, flexing muscle as they began to move in a dance that they had found years before. One that was distinctly, uniquely, theirs. Breaths fell in heated waves between parted, smiling lips as they moved together, thrust and counterthrust, chests heaving, hips rocking, rolling, seeking, giving the friction and the pressure they needed as they ambled slowly down the path of ecstasy. Muscles coiled in anticipation as heat spread languidly through their bodies and yet their slow and steady pace never faltered.

There was no rush.

They had forever.

Alex was the first to fall, sighing contentedly against Olivia's lips as gentle waves rippled through her, and she smiled as she felt the brunette shudder against her a heartbeat later.

"I love you," Olivia murmured as she pressed a lingering kiss to Alex's lips.

"I love you too, Liv," Alex whispered.

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The End.

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I would like to send a great, big, heart-felt THANK YOU to everybody who has been following this 'verse from the very beginning. Your continued interest in this arc has been absolutely astounding to me, and I want you to know that I really do appreciate the fact that you took time out of your lives to sit down and read something that I wrote. So, thank you. From the bottom of my pervy heart, thank you.