Chapter Text
Stabler listened to his realtor talking quickly about his legal options as the elevator opened on his floor and he stepped out. He paused for a moment in the hallway, wanting to finish the call before heading into the unit.
As their once sided conversation continued…and Stabler began to zone out…the door opened and he looked up at the sound of a child’s laughter as a little girl skipped excitedly around the corner.
Her joyful and almost musical giggles made him smile and he watched with growing amusement as the girl suddenly noticed a loose shoelace and dramatically lifted up her foot. Her whole body arched back as though almost in a dance pose.
“Daddy! My shoooooe!” She giggled and waggled her foot at Rafael Barba, who was quickly chasing her around the corner. “My shoe is broken!”
She giggled again and her father joined in, his soft and affectionate laughter made Stabler’s smile widen. He missed when his own children were this young and he’d seen enough pain and suffering in his career to appreciate the pure warmth and parental adoration that exuded from this man.
Stabler ended his call and watched as the man swooped his daughter up into the air, spinning her around and chuckling at her loud shriek.
“Daddy, nooooo!” Her long deep-brown hair flew out as she was lifted onto the man’s shoulder and spun around again.
“You have my flair for the dramatic, mija!” Barba teased and tickled her side.
The little girl’s foot flew out and before Stabler realised what was happening a small shoe made contact with his face and he instinctively caught it in one hand.
After watching the shoe fly, Barba quickly brought his daughter down from his shoulder and stepped forward. He secured the little girl on his hip and apologetically retrieved the shoe.
“Dios, I’m sorry,” he apologised genuinely, “ I should be more careful.”
“No worries,” Stabler assured, “ you have your hands full with this one.” He smiled at the child and she returned it shyly, burying her face into her daddy's neck and nuzzling against his neatly trimmed beard.
“I’m spending the day with my daughter and she insisted that we visit Mommy, didn’t you?” Barba held the girl a little tighter and kissed the side of her head, then his eyes were drawn to the glimmer of a police badge on Stabler's hip and, after registering his general demeanour, he began to relax a little.
The little girl grinned at her father now and for the first time it hit Stabler how much she looked like Olivia Benson, the resemblance was uncanny. Her long brunette hair, her nose, her smile…everything except her eyes, which were a startlingly beautiful shade of green.
“I’m looking for SVU?” Stabler nodded toward the door behind them. His mind was beginning to piece together the facts and he was about to come to a startling realisation when the little girl cried out…
“Mommy! Mommy and Uncle Fin and Auntie Manda!”
Barba chuckled softly and turned his head to kiss her temple. “My wife is O-I-C. Captain Benson? Are you…?” His voice trailed off at the look of shock on the stranger's face.
“You’re Liv’s-?” Stabler had started to confirm his revelation when the woman herself rushed around the corner and almost ran into them.
“Rafa!” She greeted the man with relief and a broad smile. Then she held a stuffed rabbit with long ears out for the little girl in his arms. “Sophia, sweetie, you forgot Sammy!”
Sophia beamed with joy and reached out to gratefully accept her bunny. “Fank you, Mommy!” She gasped and gripped tightly onto her fluffy friend.
"What happened here?" Olivia grinned between the two and took the small shoe from Barba's hand before carefully slipping it back onto her daughter's foot and securely tying the shoelace.
"My shoe broke!" Sophia explained. "And Daddy's silly!" She reported to her mommy and grinned.
"Objection!" Barba protested and tickled Sophia again.
Olivia laughed and gently patted her foot before stroking down Barba's arm and briefly linking their fingers. "He is..." she teased, her eyes dancing affectionately at her husband. Then she took the time to turn to the fourth person in the hallway and her eyes briefly widened in surprise when she saw it was Elliot Stabler. “Elliot, what are you doing here?”
Barba double-took and then looked at the detective. “Elliot Stabler?” He shifted his daughter upon his hip a little and held out his hand. “Livia told me that she’d met up with you on a case, but I didn’t realise that you were still around.”
Stabler shook the outstretched hand firmly and looked between their little family with fascination - now it was confirmed that Olivia was the little girl’s mother their likeness was unmistakable.
“We’re moving back into the area,” he explained with shock still in his tone, “…so, well…I thought I’d check in...”
Olivia smiled and wrapped her arm comfortably around her husband’s waist, her hand rested on his hip as she turned and touched her lips to the top of Barba's jaw. “Well, you have good timing, you can meet my crew…” She told Elliot brightly and nodded at her family.
Stabler noticed that Olivia’s entire demeanour was more relaxed compared to when they had met up at work over a week ago.
"Noah!” The little girl pointed out quickly.
Barba smiled and quickly stepped in to explain. “Our son Noah is spending the day with his Uncle Sonny at a Lego convention. This leaves Sophia and me to have a special day together while Mommy gets some work done. Doesn’t it, mija?”
Sophia grinned with near overflowing love and excitement. “Daddy Day!” She announced.
Olivia laughed. “She adores her daddy…” she told Stabler and then smiled at Rafael, “…like mother, like daughter.”
Stabler nodded wordlessly now, still in shock. He knew that he’d been away for a while but Olivia’s life had changed beyond recognition.
“When we’re settled, in a couple of weeks, Kathy has suggested that we have a barbecue. Be great if you all could make it,” Stabler suggested, looking between Olivia and Barba. “I know she’d love to see you, Liv, and meet your…family.”
“That would be nice,” Olivia agreed. “As long as it works with Rafa’s schedule…?” She looked to her husband.
Barba shook his head, quickly dismissing her concerns. “Weekend?” He asked the detective.
Stabler nodded.
“I’ll make it work,” Barba assured, “…I won’t be in class, so anything else can be worked around. Family first.”
“My man,” Olivia laughed affectionately, “…eminent law professor, feminist icon, super-dad.”
Barba laughed at their private joke and nudged her hip teasingly. “And husband to an urban legend…mi hermosa mejor amiga, mi alma gemela.”
“Where did you guys meet?” Stabler asked. He was fascinated by their dynamic, he’d never seen Olivia like this - so comfortable, and apparently completely in love.
“Rafa was our ADA,” Olivia smirked at Stabler and then laughed when he rolled his eyes. “My daily headache turned into my best friend and closest ally. I guess I finally got out of my own way and decided that this was worth fighting for. Eventually, Rafa made a move into academia and we made it official almost five years ago.”
“Five years?” Stabler confirmed with surprise. “No hanging around?” He joked.
“When you know, you know,” Olivia replied simply. “We’ve built a life together…an unbreakable family unit that neither of us had ever experienced before."
“I’m happy for you both,” Stabler replied. “I’ve missed out on a lot of my friend’s life,” he acknowledged sadly, “…I think somewhere in the back of my mind I'd expected to come back and find that nothing had really changed."
Olivia laughed and rolled her eyes. “There’s the Elliot Stabler I remember, the whole world revolves around you, right?”
Stabler sighed and rolled his eyes.
“I feel like maybe much of mine did for a while, I’m ultimately grateful that by leaving you broke me out of that cycle and left room for so much more.” Olivia shared reflections that she had long ago talked through with her husband.
“We need to go, Mi Amor,” Barba cut in softly, “…the matinee starts in an hour.”
“Wicked,” Olivia explained to Elliot and then hugged her daughter and husband. “Cuídense unos a otros, tienen mi corazón,” she whispered softly next to both of their ears and Stabler felt his heart swell with surprising affection.
Sophia giggled, “You’re funny, mommy!”
Barba smiled and gently kissed Olivia's lips. “Love you too, mi amor, we'll meet you back here later,” he replied softly and held her gaze for several long seconds before he turned, nodded at Stabler and then strolled toward the elevator with his very own mini-Olivia.
“She’s so like you,” Stabler observed as the doors closed and he was left alone with his old partner.
“She looks like me,” Olivia clarified and smiled proudly, “…but she’s her father’s daughter - dramatic, stubborn, dedicated…with a heart so big it fills every room she’s in.”
Stabler smiled and nodded, “You really do love him, don’t you?”
Olivia laughed softly, “Love him? He's my family, I adore him.”
“I’d like for us to get back to where we were…?” He suggested cautiously.
Olivia arched an eyebrow and then smiled wryly. “I’m not sure about that, Elliot. Maybe we could start again? Rafa and I could spend a little time with you and Kathy?”
“You’re expecting me to become friends with a lawyer now?” He retorted dryly.
Olivia understood he was joking, but also knew that he was being at least partially serious and there was no room for misunderstandings on this. She looked at her watch and realised that she had a meeting in less than half an hour. “Rafa is the best man I know,” she told him bluntly, “so I don’t have room in my life for someone who is not interested in taking time to see that."
Stabler held up his hands defensively and nodded. “I hear you,” he assured.
“We need to start with clear boundaries and expectations, then hopefully we can build from there,” she explained.
“What happened before, when I left like that? I know that I hurt you and it won’t happen again,” Stabler assured.
Olivia smiled knowingly, but with a glint of humor in her eyes, “Oh, I know that. There is only one man in my life with the power to really hurt me, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he never would.”
“That’s a lot of trust coming from the Olivia Benson that I knew,” Stabler observed.
“The Olivia Benson you knew didn’t have my family, my children…and I hadn’t let a man like Rafael into my life,” she replied casually. “Listen, I have a meeting - I really do need to go.”
“Maybe a drink one evening after work?” He suggested.
Olivia laughed, “Elliot, we have two children. After work drinks are mostly a thing of the past...unless we're counting when Rafa's mother takes them for date night.”
“You're saying super-dad won’t take the reigns with the kids for a couple of hours?” Stabler retorted dryly.
Olivia rolled her eyes, “Without question - but I spend quite enough time away from my family at work. I’m not going to sit in a bar and miss out on Rafa’s bedtime story, and I’m not balancing on a barstool when I could be at home with a glass of wine, curled up in my husband’s arms.” She watched his eyebrows quirk up with a little surprise. “We can do a Saturday afternoon…as I said, it would be nice to see Kathy.”
Stabler smiled and nodded, almost jealous at her description of their domestic life. “Deal,” he agreed. “Barba? He knows how lucky he is?”
Olivia smiled at Stabler warmly now. “El, he tells me every single day, in every single way - and I definitely know how blessed I am.”
THE END