Work Text:
It’s just a signature.
A few words on a line, next to the X.
She couldn’t, for the life of her, understand why it was taking so long to produce. She started with her first name, the loopy ‘O’ followed by well practiced loops of ‘l's’ and ‘i's’.
The pen felt different today, lighter, or maybe heavier. She wasn’t exactly sure.
She knew, however, what the weight was behind the meaning in this signature. That all the years of want and loss and heartbreak and disappointment and love were wrapped up in this first signature on this first page.
Every stolen glance, every tear, every ‘I love you’, every ‘where were you when I needed you’ was right there. All coming together.
With a deep breath, and, if she was being truly honest with herself, the excitement of a teenager newly in love, she finished signing the form in front of her.
Olivia Stabler.
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It’s just a signature, he thought, although he knew better than that.
The name he had written on countless items - checks, permission slips, case files – had never changed. Would never change.
Elliot Stabler.
No matter what happened after today, his name would always be the same. The same last name as his father before him, his brothers, his sons.
Sons to carry on the family name, keep it strong, alive.
But the meaning behind this signature was more profound, he thought, than any other time. This signature was a choice. A promise. A bond that would not be broken no matter what.
And after signing his name to this paper, a new name emerges to the world. A combination of many lives, stories, history…and lots of love.
Noah Porter Benson Stabler.
“That’s gonna be a mighty long signature, son.” The judge smiled warmly at the boy, his now two official parents and his five new official siblings.
“You better start practicing.”