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Olivia looked at her watch and tapped her foot. He was late. Her husband was late and she would kill him herself if he didn’t get there on time. Elliot hadn’t missed anything since he had become a father. He hadn’t missed a hockey game for Christian or a debate for Emily, but tonight was Grace’s first ballet recital and so help it he better not miss it or she would put her detective skills to good use and no one would ever find the body.
“I’m going to go check and see if Dad is outside, ok?” Olivia looked at Emily and Christian who nodded their heads.
“He’ll be here, Mom,” Christian tried to assure his mother. Since Olivia worked with IAB, her days tended to be easier. Sure, she was occasionally get called away in the middle of the night, but for the most part, Olivia worked 9-5. Elliot though was more sporadic. He was home when he promised he would be, but sometimes his job still took him away. The kids knew though that he would never miss something of theirs and Christian knew this was no exception.
Olivia walked to the back of the auditorium, cellphone in hand as she made it to the lobby but before she had a chance to say anything she broke into a smile. “As I live and breathe.” She grinned as she walked towards her husband and embraced him, ignoring the joking gags coming from his partner standing behind them. “Give it up Fin,” Olivia smirked when she pulled away from him. “You guys are late,” she looked at her Cartier watch and glared at Elliot. “You get the guy?”
Fin spoke before Elliot could, “nah, lover boy here was playin’ soft with a vic. You married a good one Liv. But the music makes me think we gotta get inside or else he’ll have another disappointed heartbroken kid on his hands.”
Olivia nodded. She gave Elliot another quick hug, understanding that Fin was telling her that Elliot was helping a kid and that was why they were late. They snuck into the back row of the auditorium just after the lights dimmed and they watched. There were 4 performances before it was Grace’s turn and Olivia alternated between watching her daughter twirl and watching Elliot watching Grace. He was so damn proud of his little girl and Olivia felt her heart swell with how much she loved watching him be a father.
Of course the problem with a dance recital, especially a dance recital in the Upper East Side was that they seemed to last forever, if forever was in fact 120 minutes. Olivia and Elliot had watched as after she performed she was ushered into the front row to watch the older children performing. By the time the show was over, Fin was almost asleep and Elliot’s knee was bouncing no matter how many times she put her hand on his knee in an attempt to calm her.
“Come on,” Olivia whispered as the lights came up after the curtain call. “Kids are up front with Tucker.”
“He came?” Elliot grinned. Grace had invited Uncle Eddie a few weeks earlier and with his Brooklyn accent and his sparkling blue eyes, Ed had promised Grace that he would be there if he could. Dana hadn’t been able to make it, she had plans, but Ed had made it.
“You know he wouldn’t miss it,” Olivia laughed as they all started filing out. Olivia found a glass of cabernet with a waiter and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at how ridiculous it was to be serving wine at a dance recital for children. “There she is,” Olivia watched as their little girl came bouncing towards them with her hand wrapped in Ed’s and her siblings close behind her. “There’s my girl,” Olivia grinned as Elliot took the glass from Olivia and Olivia picked the little girl up and hugged her.
“Mommy did you see?” Grace looked at her mother with a big smile, blue eyes sparkling just like her father. “I watched Miss Ella,” she referred to the teacher who had been in the corner of the stage to direct the young dancers. “I did it!”
“You did amazing sweetheart,” Elliot kissed her head as Grace squirmed away from Olivia. “The best dancer of anyone,” he grinned.
“Daddy, you aren’t supposed to have favourites,” she told him seriously and Elliot instantly apologized. “Did you know that when Miss Ella let me find Christian and Emi,” she giggled as she looked between her siblings, her parents and Ed, “and she thought that Uncle Eddie was my Daddy, and I laughed because that is silly. Uncle Eddie is old and has white hair, and Daddy has brown hair.”
“C’mon kid,” Ed laughed. “We had a deal, I was gonna take ya for ice cream on the weekend, and you weren’t gonna tell anyone about that.”
“You were gonna take me for ice cream before,” Grace countered. She was right, he had told her the other day that he would take her for ice cream, “so I can tell Mommy and Daddy and you’ll still take me for ice cream. Silly!”
“Silly me,” Ed laughed, “but I’m much better looking than your Daddy,” he teased.
“In your dreams Tuck,” Elliot ruffled the top of Grace’s head. “We goin’ for dinner?” He never really thought there would be a time where he would pull Olivia Benson in for a kiss, put his hand on the small of her back, nod to her children, and hold his daughter on his other hip with Ed fucking Tucker and Fin Tutuola (amongst others) following behind him. He certainly wouldn’t believe that he would be meeting Vivian and Jacob Bradley for dinner and not be ready to gouge his own eyeballs out, but somehow that had happened, and it was his life, and as his wife kissed him while Grace tugged on his hand…there wasn’t much more perfect than that.
“I have school stuff to do,” Christian told them honestly, “but I promised Gracie I would take her for breakfast next weekend.”
“So you got a free pass?” Elliot laughed and Christian shrugged, he did have schoolwork to do. “What about you?” He nodded to Emily while Olivia checked her phone quickly, confirming that Jake’s parents would be there.
Emily went and took her sister from Elliot’s arms, “I’ll be there,” she assured him, “wouldn’t miss this little one celebrating her big night. Plus we all know how boring you guys can be when you start talking about work.”
“Work is silly.” Grace nodded, it wasn’t lost on him that at such a young age she was already sick of the police work that was so frequently discussed in the house.
“I told Dana I’d bring home dinner,” Ed explained, only to feel a small hand grab him after she had dislodged itself from her older sister. “What’s up Gracie?” He asked as she tugged on him.
“You promised,” Grace pouted. “You promised Uncle Eddie, you’re s’posed to stay. For dinner.”
“Dinner is with your family kiddo,” he was crouched in front of her now, “but I’m so glad I got to see you dance. Mom and Dad are going to dinner next weekend, and you are gonna hang out with me.” He had offered to babysit to give Elliot and Olivia a night to themselves without worry about a nanny or babysitter or anything else. It had become increasingly clear to him, as happy as he was with Dana, he was never going to have kids of his own. While Olivia’s older kids liked spending time with him and affectionately called him Tuck, Grace loved her Uncle Eddie and he loved being her Uncle Eddie. “Thought we could get pizza and go to the park?”
“I can sleep over?” The little girl loved sleeping over at his place because he had a loft and she was obsessed. The exposed brick, wrought iron and dark features…the kid was in heaven for some reason.
“I’ll talk to mom.”
“I want you to come tonight.”
“What about Auntie D?” He asked. For some reason Dana hadn’t stuck, but D had and she loved Grace the same way Ed did.
“You can bring her dinner after?” Grace pouted. She wasn’t aware of her parents watching from the side, smiles playing on their lips as they watched her wrap that tough old IAB cop around her finger with a pout and a flutter of her eyelashes. “Please Uncle Eddie?”
“Alright kiddo, c’mon. I’ll carry you,” he offered and Grace leapt into his arms. “I love you, you know that, right kid?”
“I love you too Uncle Eddie.”