Author's note: Ok guys, this is the last chapter for this story. Heart of Stone has come to an end. It's been a bit of a gritty road but I am glad ya'll enjoyed it. Like I promised, there will be a sequel to this story and it will titled Heart of Gold. By the end of this chapter you'll have a pretty good idea what it's all going to be about but ya'll know me, I always have a few surprises up my sleeve. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. You guys have been awesome and seeing the reviews in my inbox every single time has just been heart warming. I hope to have the new story up and running later this week so don't go anywhere!

Chapter 18

You're my safe place, my safe place
From a world that can be so cruel and cold
You're my harbor, you're my shelter, you're that welcome smile
That lets me know I'm home
~Trisha Yearwood - You're Where I Belong

Olivia and Amanda walked hand-in-hand down the road in Jackson Heights, their fingers lovingly laced together. They'd gotten off the subway a couple of blocks back and were now walking towards their new house. With every step, Olivia could feel Amanda's anticipation growing. She'd shown her girlfriend the house from the outside but this was the first time they'd go inside together. She couldn't wait to show her. Even her heart rate quickened as they turned around the corner and started walking down their new street.

"It's so quiet," Amanda observed as she took a moment to look around. The houses on the street were not exactly identical to theirs but the sizes and designs were similar. Most of them had fences around them. In a handful, children's toys lay spread out the front yard. Cars were parked on driveways. Mostly town cars, big enough to ferry half a soccer or football team across town. There was hardly any traffic and the trees on either side of the road gave the street a nice suburban feel.

"It's perfect," Olivia mused and her thumb grazed the inside of Amanda's palm. It reminded her of one of the very first times their hands had met like this, almost nine months ago. It had been hard going but it had proven worth it in the end. "I bet there are some people back at the station who wouldn't believe Olivia Benson finally moved into a quiet suburb in Queens."

Amanda grinned. "A part of me can't even believe I am movin' into a quiet suburb in Queens."

"Ready?" Olivia asked when they reached the house. The For Sale sign outside had been replaced with a bright red SOLD board and a smile tugged at her cheeks. She turned to look at Amanda and found the blonde beaming with pride and happiness. Amanda opened the gate and started up the path leading the porch and front door. Olivia walked a few steps behind her, taking in the sight of the woman she loved walking towards their house. She imagined herself sitting on that porch, hearing Amanda's footsteps in the house. This was the life she had always longed for but had never dared to believe she'd have.

Amanda slipped her hand in her pocket and took out the key Olivia had given her. Her fingers were trembling slightly when she stuck the key in the lock and turned it. With a soft click the lock sprung open and she pushed against the door. She gasped softly when she stepped into the house. The wooden floors almost appeared to glow in the late summer sun falling through the windows. Her eyes slowly darted around the room, taking in the walls painted in soft and warm earth tones, the staircase with the dark wooden banisters and the living room.

"Well?" Olivia whispered. Her arms snaked around Amanda's waist from behind and she kissed the back of her neck. Amanda leant back into her touch and turned her head to meet Olivia's lips with her own.

"It's beautiful. I love it." The happiness reflecting in her blue eyes was genuine and Olivia smiled. She took Amanda's hand and turned her around so that they were facing each other. Her lips sought and found Amanda's and she kissed her. The kiss was soft and sweet and for a moment they forgot about what they had been through. Olivia no longer saw the bruises whenever she looked at Amanda, even though they were still there. She just saw the woman she loved, the woman she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

"Come, I'll show you the kitchen," Olivia whispered against Amanda's lips.

Amanda let her hand slide across the wooden kitchen counter and made a small pirouette as she took in the sight of the kitchen. She imagined herself cooking in here, Southern style, like her mother used to do. As her eyes took in the light falling in the room and the masses of space, she began putting furniture into this space. She wanted a large dining table that sat at least eight. As a child she'd always fantasised about having large family dinners but when Kim got older, family dinners always turned out to be a nightmare. She wanted to do things differently. She wanted to have a family that wasn't as screwed up as her own, even if the people she considered family were not related to her by blood.

"What do you think?" Olivia asked, noticing the suddenly absent look in Amanda's eyes.

Amanda's eyes snapped up. "When do we move in?"

"I'll talk to Cragen. I'm sure he'll give us a few days," Olivia answered. She took Amanda's hand again and started leading her towards the staircase. "I'll show you upstairs."

Amanda arched an eyebrow in amusement and a sly smile played around her lips. "You didn't carry me over the threshold, Olivia Benson. I don't think you get to take me upstairs."

Olivia's coffee coloured eyes, the ones the blonde detective loved so much, glistened mischievously and she took a step towards the younger woman. She extended a hand, her fingers grazing across the southern woman's stomach, exactly where she was the most ticklish. The soft yelp from Amanda was followed by a triumphant grin from Olivia. "Amanda Rollins, you get your butt up those stairs."

Still laughing, Amanda made her way up the stairs, with Olivia close behind her. As she made her way up her mind couldn't stop wondering. She had heard the sound of her own laughter between these walls and she didn't want it to ever end. When she reached the landing, she turned around and looked at Olivia. The brunette took Amanda's hand and led her into the first of the four bedrooms. It was relatively large and overlooked the back yard.

"Nice size," Amanda said and walked over to the window. "I think I'm in love with the yard."

"We could buy a nice patio set and get a barbecue," Olivia suggested and the blonde woman turned around in surprise. Hearing the words roll from her own tongue was rather surprising and Olivia smiled sheepishly. "I never thought I'd be doing any of the things we're doing right now. Not much room for a barbecue when you're living in an apartment in the middle of Manhattan."

"Are you goin' to be one of these people who throws garden parties every month?" Amanda questioned as she walked over to Olivia and slipped her arms around the older woman's neck. She playfully kissed her and her body relaxed when she felt Olivia's fingers thread through her hair. Blue eyes connected with brown. "Family dinners every Sunday?"

"You bet your ass on it," Olivia whispered and soft fingers caressed along Amanda's swollen and bruised jaw. She didn't see the injuries. All she saw was the beauty hidden underneath. Even now, when she looked at the other woman, she couldn't quite believe that Amanda had allowed her to see beyond the mask. They were both so damaged, so scarred, and yet they had found the one thing neither of them had thought possible in each other's eyes. "With you, it will be a family dinner every day."

"Who will we be invitin'?" Amanda asked. "Nick, Munch, Fin and Cragen?"

Olivia's brown eyes softened. "Or maybe just us…." There was a pause, one that allowed for Amanda to understand the sensitivity of what she was about to say before she spoke the words. "…the sound of children playing in the living room while we're cooking?"

Amanda blinked and for a moment all they shared was the mutual feelings reflecting in their eyes. Then she smiled. "The sound of children runnin' around, getting' in the way when you're trying to put the plates on the table, stealin' food from the counter and leavin' muddy footprints on your clean floor." Her smile widened. "I think I can cope with that."

"You can?" Olivia asked. Until now she had never heard Amanda express any desire about starting a family of her own. Having Kim for a sister made that she viewed family life with the same apprehension Olivia did. She had never wanted anything more than a child of her own and the rejection from the adoption agency several years earlier had all but shattered her hopes about becoming a parent one day. Until recently she believed she'd waited too long, that her chance was gone. She had slowly started to accept that she would never hear the sound of children's laughter in the other room, or the feeling or a child crawling into bed with her during a stormy night.

Amanda's hand found Olivia's and she brought them to her lips. The smile around her lips was teasing but the look in her eyes told Olivia that she meant every word of what she said. "If I can put up with you, I can put up with anythin'."

Olivia wrapped her arms around Amanda and pulled her against her. They stood like this for a while, in silence, allowing the moment to truly sink in. They had come this far and although there was far to go, and the healing would take longer than just for the bruises to fade, they were still here. They were in this together, like they had promised each other they would, and no bullet or undercover operation was ever going to change that. They were two unlikely people who had found each other in the wilderness and madness of New York City and life's trials and tribulations had brought them to this very moment. No matter how bad the memories were, as she kissed Amanda's hair, Olivia realised she wouldn't change a single second for it had brought her here.

~()~

1 week later

The thing about moving into a new place is that you don't realise how much junk you've got in your old one. This was something both Olivia and Amanda discovered when it came to emptying their respective apartments and deciding what they were and weren't bringing into their new home. They put Amanda's bed in their master bedroom and used Olivia's for the guest room. Now that they had a large living room, they wanted a new couch so both their old pieces ended up with the garbage. Most of their other furniture quickly followed.

Amanda and Olivia were finishing off clearing out Olivia's apartment. Amanda had been sleeping here for the last three nights after handing her keys back to her landlady. Her apartment had already been rented out to the next person and the few pieces of furniture she'd chosen to keep were already standing in the house in Queens, although they'd just been dumped in boxes and still needed unpacking. Now they were finishing off in Olivia's apartment.

The week had flown by. Amanda's bruises had healed and she looked like her normal self again. For the first three days they had done hardly anything else but talk and make love. It had brought them closer together as a couple and it helped them deal with the dark demons left behind by the undercover operation. Amanda's testimony had helped put Lori and the others in prison and Alex was working alongside the ADA assigned to the Gang Unit to bring them to trial. Life was looking up and all that was left to do was putting their separate lives into boxes so they could unpack them into their new home.

"Hey, what's in here?" Amanda asked as she pulled a box from underneath a pile of clothes in Olivia's wardrobe.

The brunette detective looked up and wiped her hands along her jeans. She furrowed her brow as she watched Amanda carry the box around the room before kneeling down onto the ground next to Olivia. She'd been sifting through her CD's and apart from a few Bruce Springsteen albums she hadn't really found anything she wanted to keep. Her attention now shifted on the box in Amanda's hand and in her chest her heart started to swell with all kinds of emotions she couldn't put into words. By the time she'd reached for Amanda's hands to stop her from removing the lid, it was too late. The first few pictures landed on the floor and the two women both stared at the only one that had fallen with its image facing up.

"That's you?!" Amanda whispered as she picked up the picture and looked at it more closely. A very young Olivia Benson, complete with pigtails and pink ribbons, smiled up at the camera. Her right front tooth was missing and there was something incredibly endearing and fragile about the image. Amanda glanced up from the picture and saw the unexpected tears in Olivia's eyes.

"I haven't seen those in a very long time," Olivia said and picked up the rest of the pictures. She turned them over in her hand and felt a sharp pang of guilt and regret when she saw her mother's face. She heaved a sigh. "She always had this sad look in her eyes, you know. She thought I didn't know but I did. Sometimes I think she used the alcohol to hide it but mostly I think she drank so she didn't have to see me for what I really was. A reminder of her rape."

"Liv, I'm sorry," Amanda said softly and moved closer to the older woman. The hurt in Olivia's eyes was unlike anything she'd ever seen before. She knew what happened to Serena Benson. Olivia had told her not long they got together. It had been late at night and they'd sat in silence for a while when she suddenly just blurted out that her mother had been raped and she was the product of that. It had felt as if it had been playing on her mind for hours, that she'd been preparing herself for sharing the truth about her life, but lost control over how she wanted to tell it. From that moment on, Amanda had just listened to Olivia telling her about her mother. By the time the sun had started to climb over the horizon the next morning, they were still talking. It was in that moment, there and then, that Amanda knew for sure that they were going to make it. They were stronger than the scars from their past.

"It's allright," Olivia said softly and put the pictures down. "I forgot I kept these. When she died, there was nobody to clear out her apartment. I told the landlord that I didn't want to do it. He asked if I wanted to get some things anyway and let me in. I didn't take much. I just sat on her couch for hours, expecting her to come in. When I left, these pictures were all I took with me."

"Maybe you should keep them," Amanda said when she noticed Olivia was about to put the pictures with a pile of CD's she was about to throw away. She covered Olivia's hand with her own and their gazes locked. "We'll get some frames for them and put them somewhere." She took the picture of young Olivia out from underneath the one of Serena and smiled as she held it up. "I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to look at this every day? This is seriously cute!"

Olivia smiled too. "I always told myself I'd be a better mother than she ever was."

"And you will be."

"Nobody knows that." Olivia averted her eyes.

"Yes, I do," Amanda said firmly. "I know you'll be a better mother than she was because you just told me you will be. You know what you want to be and you know what you don't want to be. You, Olivia Benson, would make a fantastic mother. The whole world can see that and one day you will too."

Olivia looked up. "You think so?"

Amanda nodded. "I do."

Olivia put down the pictures and leant in to kiss her girlfriend. Amanda tasted of her usual sweet self as well as a strange mixture of dust sweat and Olivia grinned into the kiss. Amanda's hands snaked around Olivia's neck as she pulled the brunette on top of her, landing on her floor, surrounded by DVD cases, pictures and other items that were waiting to be boxed up.

"This isn't going to help us move in any quicker," Amanda laughed when she felt Olivia's hands side up underneath her sweatshirt.

"Nope," Olivia chuckled and kissed the side of Amanda's neck. "But it's making it so much more fun."

Amanda decided that it was best to forget about the boxes that needed to be packed and let her hands slide through Olivia's curly hair. When the need for oxygen forced them apart, Olivia's hand was about to slip behind Amanda's jeans but the blonde's eyes snapped open and she looked up at the dark haired woman hovering over her.

"Liv?"

"Yeah?"

Amanda smiled. "I'd love to have a family with you some day."

Olivia leant in and softly kissed the side of Amanda's mouth. "We will, Manda." Another kiss. Soft brown eyes found blue. "We will."

End.