Chapter Text
His feet rounded the corner ever so carefully, leaning up to watch his favorite person wrapping up a book in bed. A subtle rap of his knuckles against the door interrupted the moment.
“Books up. It’s bedtime.”
Tired brown eyes met his blues, with eyebrows furrowing in disagreement. “Five more minutes?”
He took a step or two in, giving a soft chuckle. “That was ten minutes ago, baby girl.”
“Come on, Daddy,” She pulled out the big guns as she pouted and tilted her head, “For me?”
But the third time wasn’t the charm for old Elliot Stabler. “Nice try. We got Mother's Day tomorrow with grandma. Book up and lay down.”
Reluctantly she pushed the book up on her shelf before snuggling under her covers. Elliot leaned over to kiss her forehead before reaching to turn off her lamp. “Good night, baby. I--”
“Wait!” Her expression shifted from defeated to one of curiosity. “Why don’t we ever celebrate my mom on Mother’s Day? The big kids get to celebrate their mom.”
“And we celebrate grandma.”
“But never my mom,” Those brown eyes stared him down. “Why don’t you talk about her anymore?”
“Life just gets complicated, kiddo.”
“I deserve to know about her,” She sat back up in bed. “Come on, Dad.”
A sigh trailed out of his mouth as he racked the millions of things he could say about the woman who gave him their daughter. So many stories to share from their days together. All the things their daughter does now that remind him so much of her mother. The list felt endless.
“You are just so much like her,” Elliot reaches for her hand, holding it. “Some days, you’re way too much like her.”
She smiled, “One down, nine more to go.”
“Excuse me?” He chuckled again. “Nine more what?”
“Nine more things about my mom,” The girl scooted over to make room for her dad, to which he obliged. “I’m ten years old so I think I deserve to hear ten things about her. That was number one.”
His arm reached around and pulled his youngest into his embrace. Her head rested against his chest, listening to his heartbeat as if it was at peace thinking about her. “Two.. She had the biggest brown eyes and the most beautiful brown hair.”
She smiled. “Kinda like me?”
“A whole lot like you,” He pressed a light kiss to the top of her head, “Three, your mom was the biggest coffee snob. I can’t think of a morning with her where it didn’t start off with some cup of coffee.”
“Is that why you love coffee so much?”
“I’m pretty sure I love it more than she did,” The pair giggled again before Elliot went on, “Four, she is super smart. Brilliant in every way possible. She could speak so many languages and talk about so many books she read that it blew me away.”
“I definitely did not get that from her...”
His arm pulled her in closer. “Five, she was my rock. She made sure I had my head on straight and got my life together for the big kids and you.”
“Six,” The girl watched as his smile dimmed at the thought of number six. “Your mama loved to help people. She had anyone’s back that needed it. Her heart for people is tremendous.”
“She was in everyone’s corner,” She reminisced as if she had known her sweet mother her whole life.
He nodded once more, “Seven, she didn’t have the best childhood. Her own mom was a mess. And her dad wasn’t in the picture.”
“Why’s that?”
“Just how it was,” He answered, “Eight, her job was one of her favorite things in the world. She got to help people heal and fought for justice. It was like she was born for that job.”
Before she could ask about what her mother did, he moved right along, “Nine.. Even though she loved her job, all she wanted to be was a mama. She fought hard to become one.”
“Then why isn’t she mine?”
Elliot left one last kiss on his daughter’s head before sliding off the bed, "That's a long story.. A long, complicated story."
“It’s not fair,” He watched her little brown eyes cast downward.
She was right--it wasn’t fair. His daughter deserved to have a mother, especially hers. If he could go back to that night nine years ago and change it, he would in a heartbeat. He would fight for his family. Anything to get his brown eyed girl back.
“Now it’s time for bed,” He turned off the lamp and began to walk back towards the door.
Her hand reached to turn the lamp back on. “That was only nine, Dad.”
“It’s late.”
“You promised ten.”
Damn those brown eyes, he thought to himself as her mother’s mini waited for number ten.
“Ten.. Your mama loved you with all her heart. No doubt in my mind that she did.”
Content with his final statement, she cocked her head and had an uneasy look gazing at him. “You think she still does?”
Now he was fighting back his own tears. “Yeah. I’ve known your mama for years and years, Alyssa. I know she still does.”
He bid one last goodnight before barely closing the door. Traversing down the hall and into his own bed now, Elliot was left with his own thoughts. But all were about his favorite brown eyed girl.