AN: Before the much anticipated conclusion, I just must say that Elliot, Olivia and Kathy do not belong to me…*sigh*

Elliot walked over to Olivia's bed then. It still smelled of her. He crawled in and curled into a ball. Sleeping in this bed without Olivia was harder than he thought, but something he had to do. He closed his eyes, letting the memories float across his mind. After Olivia and Marie were released from the hospital, he and Olivia made whatever they had between them work. That was their only goal, to make 'it' work. They couldn't date, but they could be in love with each other. They could care about each other. Elliot had a room set up at his house for Marie, served Kathy with new divorce papers and threatened legal action if she didn't sign. Olivia admitted that those dates had meant nothing to her, and that she had always been in love with him, but was just afraid of being by herself and raising a child. It may have taken drastic measures and a horrific situation for them to realize it, but the only person for either of them was each other…

That didn't mean everything moved smoothly though. Olivia never did find the bigger apartment she needed. Elliot never did get Kathy to sign the divorce papers, but wound up fighting a huge legal battle in court where neither of them won. They had another pregnancy scare that ended in a miscarriage, and Elliot was suspended for supposed police brutality. Marie caught the chicken pocks, and gave them to Dickie and Lizzie, who had never had them before. Olivia struggled to be a single mother at Marie's private kindergarten where everyone was a Fifth Avenue power mom. They grew apart, and they came back together. Nothing was perfect, but nothing seemed impossible as long as they had each other. It was simple really. They could fight, they could argue, but they would never fall out of love with each other. Ever.

He slept in Olivia's bed that night. Or rather he dreamed of Olivia while pretending to sleep in her bed that night. He was awoken by Marie, who crawled in the bed next to him early the next morning.

"Uncle Elliot is mommy really gone?" she asked, snuggling in toward him. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Ye-" he began, and then changed his answer. "No. You'll always have mommy. She may not be able to hold you or talk to you, but you'll always have her. We both will"

"I want her to be here though" Marie whimpered. Elliot looked down.

"It's okay to cry, Marie" he consoled. "I want mommy here too, but it can't be that way. I know that's hard to understand right now, but it will get better. Maybe not right now, but eventually" he said. And then he shut-up and just held his daughter. They stayed curled up in Liv's bed for hours, not really talking and just crying together so they didn't have to do so alone. Morning quickly turned into late afternoon and Elliot remembered that Marie still had to eat. "You want to go get lunch, love?" he asked her. She shook her head no.

"I want to go say good-bye" she said slowly. She sat up and Elliot pulled her into his lap. "When she left the morning she…" Elliot nodded sadly. Poor Marie, all she knew was that one day she had her mother and the next she didn't.

"The morning she died" Elliot said, his voice hitching on tears.

"I…I… didn't…. say good…bye" Marie said between bursts of tears. "I want to go say good-bye"

"Are you sure?" he asked her gently, holding her close. She nodded and played with her bracelet, the golden O and M charms swinging together. "Alright then" Elliot said. "Let's go get you dressed"

They arrived at the graveyard under a black sky. It was bitterly cold and snow was inevitable. Elliot took Marie's hand and walked her to Olivia's grave. Flowers covered the freshly upturned earth and her tombstone read: Olivia Benson. Beloved by all. Cragen and the rest of the squad had chosen it. Elliot had refused to have any part in her funeral. It had just been too hard. Marie looked up at Elliot then and he nodded. She knelt down and placed one stark white lily on the grave.

"Good-bye, mommy" she said softly, tears falling down her face. Elliot was practically bawling. This was the hardest thing he had ever done. He had watched vics commit suicide and perps go down in a shoot-out, but none of that could have prepared him for this. "I love you" Marie said. She didn't move then, but sat down on the cold earth and just stared at the tombstone. Elliot sat down next to her and pulled her into his lap.

"You know she loves you very much" Elliot said. Marie nodded, and Elliot decided that silence was best. They both just sat there and silently said good-bye to Olivia. Elliot didn't pretend not to cry, he just let himself miss his partner, his daughter's mother, the woman he'd fallen in love with back in '99 and, his entire life. It started snowing before Elliot picked up Marie off the ground, knowing they would both catch a cold. She buried her face in shoulder and cried. "Good-bye, Olivia" he said. "I love you." He walked back to the Sedan and was shocked to see Kathy waiting for him.

"Aunt Kathy?" Marie asked, confused. "Did you come to say good-bye to mommy too?"

"No" Kathy said quickly, her eyes flickering. "But I have something for you." She reached in her purse and pulled out a lollipop and handed it to her. "Why don't you eat that in the car while I talk to your Uncle Elliot?" she asked sweetly. Elliot frowned, what was she up to?

"What are you doing here?" Elliot asked after buckling Marie into the car and cranking the heat for her. Kathy reached into her purse again and handed him a stack of papers in a yellow envelope.

"Signed, sealed and ready for delivery" she said evenly. Elliot looked in the envelope. The divorce papers sat neatly in chronological order, Kathy's signature next to his.

"You could have mailed these to me" he said.

"I could have, but I wanted you to hear what I have to say in person" she said. Elliot leaned against the car, less than willing to have a conversation with his—finally—ex-wife. "I'm really sorry that Olivia's gone, but I'll never be sorry that I stood in the way of you and her having a relationship"

"I'm not listening to this" Elliot said, going around to the driver's side of the car.

"Elliot" Kathy said sternly.

"What, Kathy? What?" he asked exasperatedly.

"I wasn't finished" she said. "I'm not sorry that you never got a chance to be with Olivia, but I'm not going to stand in the way of you having a relationship your daughter. She deserves better than Serena Benson, and I know you would never watch her bounce around in foster care" Kathy said vehemently. She stood back and Elliot suddenly saw his life with Kathy and with Olivia just flash before his eyes. All the pain and happiness and togetherness nearly brought him to his knees. He blinked several times then, clearing his head.

"Thank you" Elliot said. That was all he could think of to say. This was never the way he imagined things to end between him and Kathy. It was entirely too civil.

"I know you'll take care of her, Elliot" Kathy said. She reached into her bag once again and pulled out another letter. "Olivia gave this to me when she found out she was pregnant" she said, handing the letter over. It simply read If I Die Young on the front in Liv's handwriting.

"Olivia gave this to you?" Elliot asked.

"Don't ask me why" Kathy said with a shrug.

"I wasn't going to" Elliot said. This was just like Liv, trying to reconcile him with his ex-wife even from the grave. Kathy gave a faint smile.

"You want the kids this weekend?" she asked. Elliot nodded and Kathy returned the gesture. There was nothing left for them to say. "Alright then, see you around" she said, walking over to her car and getting in. Elliot watched his ex-wife go, and then opened the letter.

El,

Nothing's as terrible as you think it is. I would say that I love you, but you already know I do. I ask you to do only one thing…love our daughter.

Liv

Elliot turned the paper over and realized Olivia had written the letter on the back a form signing over her parental rights to him. I, Olivia Benson, hereby relinquish custody of Marie Beatrice Benson, to her father, Elliot Stabler.

AN: C'est fini…what do you think? Drop me a review. I'll be posting some 'deleted scenes' soon. Look for those! I also have the beginnings of a new story queued up. I have the beginning of a series that only needs to be chaptered, and another full length stand-alone that is in the editing process. It's a bit of a hot mess right now, but I think you will like it. I think it's my best E/O so far. Look out for those deleted scenes and drop a review, thanks!