Semper Fi

Second in Command

She continued to wipe her eyes and the table fell silent.

"Damn you Benson. You always find a way to make someone cry," Casey said after a long pause with tears in her eyes and they all laughed.

"So I guess it won't be long before we are calling you Olivia Stabler then?"

"Umm no Alex. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. That's not even on the table right now. We are just enjoying our time together and with the kids. That's it."

"Get real Liv. Your kid calls him dad. He's practically living there and you know Elliot. He doesn't strike me as the shacking type. He's an old traditionalist. Why do you think he stayed in that marriage for so long? He's all about doing the right thing," Melinda added.

"If he asked what would you say?" Casey leaned in and asked. "Yes right?"

Olivia was speechless. She really hadn't thought about Elliot asking her to marry him. She was so comfortable with the way things were and she was just to the point of trying to wrap her mind around him possibly adopting her son.

"I...I...I don't know."

"You can't be serious. How could you say no?" Alex asked.

"I mean it's too soon." They all stared at her like she had two heads. "Isn't it?"

"Yall have been courting for twelve years give or take a year so no!" Casey said.

Olivia contemplated what she was saying before the waitress interrupted.

"Coffee or dessert for anyone?"

"Ill take a dessert menu," Olivia quickly said. "Look I don't know what I would say and I don't want to think about that right now. I just like where we are right now. Happy."

"We never got the story on what happened when he left," Alex said.

Olivia sighed not knowing how much she wanted to share.

"That bad hunh?" Melinda asked. "I figured it had to be for him to disappear for so long and not get in touch with you."

"Kathleen's dead," she blurted out.

"What?!"

"Yeah a couple of years ago."

"That explains why she wasn't at the party. I thought maybe she just wasn't supportive of the two of you together," Alex said. "Poor Elliot I can only imagine how he handled that. I know how much his kids mean to him."

"Yeah," she said somberly. "He had a really rough time of it for awhile and that's why he stayed away. He wanted to get his life together and I can appreciate that."

"Yeah definitely. You know it just makes the scene we witnessed at the party all the more special. He seems at ease with his life and grounded. If he can get back on solid ground after going through that..then that says a lot," Casey said more seriously than she had been throughout the entire lunch.

"Well enough about that. I don't want to kill the mood," Olivia said sticking a fork in her dessert that was just delivered.

"How about a toast?" Melinda offered.

"What are we toasting to?" Olivia asked.

"To friends, good times... and the soon to be Mrs. Stabler," Casey answered and they all burst into laughter.

They spent the rest of the lunch talking about their lives and having normal girl talk. Once Olivia started yawning again they agreed to call it a night having drank and talk for over three hours. As they separated, they all made a promise to make time to all get together at least once a month. Her job had been everything for so long but the reemergence of Elliot back into her life made her want to take the time for the people that mattered most to her. She wouldn't be able to do that unless she had a second in command and could delegate more. It was time for her to have an important conversation with someone close to her.