Disclaimer:Nope, still not. Darn.

This is the end! Thanks to all who read the whole story and reviewed. There is too many of you to list, but thank you all! I really hope that you enjoy this final chap, and that you got something from this story. What, I don't care as long as you did. The Epilogue isn't quite as sad, but not happy either.

Thanks all so much for reading! Enjoy!

Twelve Years Later

“Michael Christopher Stabler! What the hell was that?” Elliot cringed as he heard a loud crash from the other room.

“Sorry dad! I tripped!” his son came into the kitchen and went straight to the refrigerator. “So, what’s for dinner?” Mikey asked.

“Pizza. I already ordered. Should be here in ten minutes.” Elliot leaned up against the counter and watched Mikey open a can of soda and chug half of it before closing the door of the fridge.

“Great.” Mikey half shrugged as he headed out of the kitchen.

“Hey, did you do your homework?” Elliot questioned.

“Yeah. Didn’t have a lot though.” Mikey stopped and faced his father.

“That’s good.” Elliot sighed. Mikey looked at his father, knowing something was wrong.

“Everything ok, dad?” he asked. Elliot nodded in response.

“Alright.” Mikey looked away and headed to the family room.

Elliot let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in. He glanced over at the calendar hanging near the fridge. January 15. The one day he spent all year trying not to think about. The day he hated most. The day, not unlike most, where he thought constantly of her.

Tonight, after his son was asleep, he’d be alone in the living room surrounded by memories and booze. It was the same thing he’d done every January 15th for the past twelve years.

“Hey dad!” Mikey reappeared in the entrance to the kitchen.

“Yeah?” Elliot turned back to face his son.

“Who’s this?” Mikey held a picture up and Elliot’s stomach turned over. His eyes widened and he reached out, quickly snatching the photo from Mikey’s fingers.

“Where did you get this?” Elliot grinded out, trying desperately hard not to look at the photo in his hands.

“I found it in the cabinet for the entertainment system when I was looking for batteries for the remote.” Mikey answered. Elliot didn’t answer; instead he gave into temptation and looked at the picture.

“God...” he breathed out. He painfully closed his eyes and gripped the counter to hold himself up.

“Is she my real mom?” Mikey asked, breaking the silence between him. Elliot couldn’t find the courage to open his eyes, let alone answer that question.

No! Yes...kind of...

“Dad?”

“I don’t want to talk about it!” Elliot snapped.

“She is isn’t she?” Mikey said. Just then, the doorbell rang.

“Just go get the pizza.” Elliot handed Mikey a twenty dollar bill and turned away again. Taking one last look at the picture before joining his son for dinner, he tried to pinpoint just when it was taken. It was about five years into their partnership at one of their annual squad picnics. She was dressed in the unusual skirt that went up to about mid-thigh and a sky blue halter top. It was the only time he had been able to see her in such revealing apparel. He hadn’t been able to sleep without dreaming of her for months.

“Dad! Pizza’s here!” Mikey announced, taking the pizza into the family room. It was the only meal they ate in any other room besides the dining room. They could watch TV and eat and be “real men” like they always joked.

“Be right there!” Elliot called, feeling as though his voice was three octaves higher than usual. He tucked the picture in his back pocket and sighed. He turned and trudged out of the kitchen with only one thing on his mind.

Olivia...

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

“Knock, knock!” a sing-song voice echoed through the house as Elliot and Mikey sat and watched a rerun of last Sunday’s football game. Before either of them could answer, the source of the voice appeared in the entrance to the room. “Hello!”

“Hey Casey.” the two guys said in unison. The blonde practically skipped over to the couch and sat on one side of Elliot.

“Hey honey, how are you?” she leaned towards him and pecked him on the cheek.

“Fine. Tough day at the office. Being in charge is a lot tougher than it looks, you know.” he said as he slipped his arm around Casey’s shoulders. She leaned up against him and glanced over at Mikey for a moment. “How was your day, Case?” Elliot asked.

“Oh, fine. Had that trial this morning. It was pretty ugly, but the verdict came in guilty. Jackson and Damien were the lead Detectives on this one. They did a pretty good job on their part. I feel so bad about blowing up at them though. Training two new rookies is tough.” Casey sighed.

“What happened to those other guys?” Elliot asked.

“They transferred out a couple weeks ago.” Casey ran a hand through her hair and leaned her head against his shoulder.

“I’m gonna go upstairs and get on the computer for a while.” Mikey pushed himself up off the couch and left the room without another room.

“God he’s growing up so fast.” Elliot kissed the top of his wife’s head. “He asked about his real mother today.” At that comment, Casey’s head shot up and she looked at him with wide eyes.

“Really? What got him to ask about that?” Casey asked. Elliot reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture of her.

“Olivia...he asked if she was his real mother.” Elliot told her.

“What did you say?”

“I told him I didn’t want to talk about it.” Elliot shrugged. “I mean, you’re practically his mother. You have been since she...left. And we’ve been married for three years now...”

“Honey, I think he wants to know. About them both. Including Kathy.” Casey took the picture of Olivia from him and stared at it, trying to ignore her husband’s sharp breath intake.

“Kathy was killed last year in that car crash. I might as well tell him Olivia was his real mom.”

“What about Maureen? He’s knows she’s his sister from Kathy, but he doesn’t know who Kathy is. He knows he has siblings. You can’t lie to the kid.” Casey said, not sure if she was making any sense to him.

“Maureen’s almost thirty five, married, with two kids. He sees his other siblings on Christmas and Thanksgiving. Maureen only comes around to bring Carrie and Josh here.” Elliot said. He wanted to stop talking about them all. Every one of them was just another painful memory to think about. His twenty some years with Kathy, his loss his amazing partner, his kids that chose to leave with their mother, and the fact that he was a grandfather.

“You should tell him.” Casey said.

“Today is twelve years, Case.” he practically whispered.

“Its ok.” she rubbed his thigh gently. “I’ll get the beer and the pictures. Then I’m going to bed. Promise me you won’t spend too long doing this.” she said.

“I can’t promise you anything.” Elliot sighed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Casey made her way into the kitchen and went to the fridge for the six pack. She had known coming into this relationship that she wasn’t going to get everything she would get out of a normal life. She knew everything her husband had been through, and knew that she could help him deal with it. At first, she would come over and clean his house and make dinner after work while he played with the baby. But as Mikey began to grow, their lifestyle became different. She needed Elliot and he needed her. As Mikey turned three, Elliot asked her to move in with him. By the time Mikey was five and starting school, the two of them were sharing a bed. Three years later, Elliot proposed to her and a year after that they got married.

Their relationship was not about want, desire, or love. It was about need. He needed someone to give him stability. She just needed someone to come home too. Her job was no longer everything it had once been. The entire squad was nothing like before. Fin was the captain of the squad, Munch had been shot on the job about eight years ago and never made it out of surgery, Lake had transferred to another unit, Huang got a job somewhere else, Cragen died of a heart attack two years ago, Melinda was still around but Casey never saw her.

Once Casey got the beer, she went to the cupboard under the bar and grabbed the old shoebox. Heading into the family room, she noticed Elliot had the TV off and the music playing.

And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

“Elliot, don’t play that sad shit. It’ll make it worse.” Casey dropped the six pack on the table and handed him one. She opened the shoe box and handed it to him.

“Fine. Can you turn it off?” he took a huge swig of the beer. She smirked and rolled her eyes as she walked to the stereo and flipped it off. “Thanks.” he said. Walked over to him and kissed him firmly on the lips.

“Good night.” she said.

“Night.” he said.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Pictures were scattered everywhere. The table was covered, the floor was covered, and the couch was covered. He sat on the floor, cross-legged holding his fourth beer. The remote control was in his hand as he rewound the video. Then he pressed play and watched. It was the day of the pie eating contest. The camera zoomed in on her beautiful fruit covered face. She grinned at the camera as she dove into the dessert. He watched the younger version of himself eating hurriedly, trying to finish his own to act out the clever plan he had.

Pause. Rewind. Play.

Close up on her face, smiling.

Pause. Rewind. Play.

Close up on her face.

Pause. Rewind. Play.

Smiling.

Pause...

“God she’s beautiful.” he sighed. He glanced around frantically and took a bunch of the old pictures in his hand. Most of them of him and her smiling. He loved her. More than anything. More than he every loved Kathy, or even Casey. He just wished that he had realized it sooner.

“Dad?” the voice of his son jerked him from his intoxicated trance.

“What do you want?” his words were a little slurred together, but he wasn’t quite drunk yet.

“What’s going on? Who is she?” Mikey looked around at all the pictures. Elliot sighed, defeated, then motioned for his son to come over and sit by him. He grabbed up a bunch of pictures and set them in a pile on his other sided.

“I usually do this later, and then Casey cleans it up in before we get up.” Elliot sighed.

“She’s pretty. Was she my mother?”

“No.” Elliot shook his head. Now or never... “She was.” Elliot pulled a picture of Kathy out of his pocket. She didn’t compare to the beauty of the woman whose picture surrounded them.

“What is her name?” Mikey asked as he looked at the picture of his birth mother, the one that abandoned him.

“Her name was Kathy. You were our fifth child, but we were supposed to be getting a divorce. When you were three months old, she left you with me telling me she didn’t love me anymore. About twelve hours later, she died.” Elliot pointed at the pictures littering the floor.

“So I was an accident?” Mikey asked.

“You weren’t planned, but you weren’t an accident.” Elliot was mentally beating himself up for the words, but he the alcohol clouded his mind.

“Where is my mother now?” Mikey asked.

“Dead. She died a last year. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I hadn’t spoken to her for years.” he sighed. Mikey thought for a minute, then looked back up at her father.

“So what’s the big deal about this brown haired lady?” Mikey questioned.

“That...that is Olivia. She was my partner for nine years. She was your godmother. She was everybody’s best friend. She was my soul mate. She died of cancer.” Elliot replied. Simple, right to the point. Mikey took another moment to think, then spoke.

“So, you were with my real mom since Maureen was born, but she left you then you got back together and had me. Then she left you again, this Olivia died, then you got together with Casey?” Mikey questioned.

“Yeah.” Elliot sighed.

“Oh.” Mikey sighed. “Well, I’m going to bed.”

“Good night.” Elliot took another swig of his beer as his son disappeared. Just as he lowered his bear, Casey stepped into the room wearing a pink robe.

“He took that well.” Casey said. She noticed Elliot had tears in his eyes. “I told you not to do this too long. It’s been four hours.” she sighed as she began to pick up the pictures from the floor.

“I miss her so much.” Elliot said.

“El, don’t dwell on it. It’s been twelve years.” Casey collected the pictures and put them back in the box. As she came near him, he grabbed her arm.

“Leave them for now. Let’s just go to bed.” he sighed. She smiled and helped him up off the floor. He took one step forward and wobbled slightly.

“You’re drunk.” she rolled her eyes.

“Just a little tipsy.” he said. She grasped his arm and helped him upstairs to their bedroom. As they lay down, she scooted closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I still miss her.” he whispered.

“Who doesn’t?” she looked up and kissed him. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

“Good night, El.”

“Good night, Case.”

(: Reviews are nice :)