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“Come on, Noah. Mama will be home soon. Let’s get dinner going, so it will be ready when she gets here. What do you say?”
If you would have told Elliot Stabler four years ago that he’d be in his former partner’s apartment babysitting her newly-adopted one-and-a-half year old son, he’d have thought you were crazy. Hell, four years ago they weren’t even speaking, so to be here today, he thinks, is nothing short of a miracle.
He’s been back in her life for roughly two years. He’d come running the second he heard she was missing, needing to be there for his partner, knowing instinctively that she would need him. Though he couldn’t officially work the case, Cragen had let him listen in on every briefing and took his input seriously. He’s been here for her ever since. They’re not together, but neither of them are seeing other people either. She’d been dating Brian Cassidy when they reconnected, but that relationship fizzled out with a negative pregnancy test. His divorce was finalized a year after he left SVU.
“Mama,” Noah mimics.
“Yeah, Kid. Mama will be home soon. You want to help me make spaghetti?”
Noah toddles over to him and raises his arms as high above his head as he can - the universal sign for, “Up! Up!”
Elliot smiles at Noah and bends down to lift the little guy onto his hip. He carries him into the kitchen, but when he goes to settle the tot in his high chair near the kitchen counter, Noah just clings on tighter, murmuring something against his chest. Elliot freezes. “What was that, Kid?” He bends again, like he intends to place Noah in his chair.
“Up, Dada! Up!” It was much clearer this time.
Alright, then, Elliot thinks to himself. One-handed spaghetti it is.
***
Olivia opens the door just as Elliot is taking the spaghetti off the heat and the garlic bread out of the oven.
“Perfect timing, Liv,” he calls to her, Noah still settled on his hip and clinging to his shirt.
“Mama!”
“Hey there, Sweet Boy. I missed you today. Were you good for Elliot?”
“Yeah!” Noah nods his head, and she looks to Elliot for confirmation.
“We went to the park this morning. Came back and played cars. Read books. He took a long nap after lunch. It was a good day. He’s a good kid, Liv.”
She smiles. “I’m going to go change and put my gun in the safe, but I’ll be right back. Food smells delicious.”
***
As toddlers are prone to do, Noah has managed to cover himself from head to toe in spaghetti sauce. “Good call stripping him down to his diaper, El.”
Elliot just shrugs his shoulders. “Makes for easier clean up - diaper off and right in the bathtub,” he laughs.
She chuckles and nods in agreement. “Thanks again for watching him today. Lucy texted this afternoon and said it’s strep.” She hesitates. “I hate to ask, but would you be able to watch him tomorrow, too? She said she thinks she’ll be back the day after.”
“No problem, Olivia. I’m glad to do it.” Now it’s his turn to hesitate. He needs to tell her what Noah said earlier, but how is he supposed to broach that topic with her?
“What is it, El?”
“It’s nothing. It’s just - he, uh, called me ‘Dad’ earlier.” Her eyes go wide as he continues, “I didn’t ask him to or encourage it or anything. He did it on his own.”
Olivia can’t help but think that it somehow feels right that Noah has called Elliot ‘Dad.’ He’s the closest paternal figure in her son’s life, and, if she’s being completely honest, she kind of thinks of him as her coparent. Elliot has been her backup babysitter ever since she got Noah. Whenever Lucy is sick or can’t watch Noah for any reason, she calls Elliot. She knows she can count on him. Whenever she has a question about something Noah is going through - teething, sickness, sleep regression - she calls Elliot for advice.
“Noah, who am I?” She points to herself.
Noah gives her a big smile and says, “Mama!”
“That’s right, Sweet Boy,” she claps her hands together, “and who are you?”
Now, she points at her son, who says, “No!”
“Yes! You’re Noah! Who’s that?” She points to Elliot.
“Dada!”
Noah claps as he says it, and there are tears in both adults’ eyes as she looks at Elliot and says, “That’s right, Noah. That’s Dada!”
***
Noah falls asleep quickly after his bath. While Olivia is tucking him into bed, Elliot returns to the kitchen to finish washing the dinner dishes.
“El, we need to talk.” She’s watching him from the doorway to the kitchen. “Can we go sit on the couch for a minute?”
Elliot follows her to the living room, and they sit not quite on opposite ends of the couch but not next to each other either. “Liv, I promise; I haven’t been teaching him to call me Dad.”
“El, it’s okay. I was actually just going to say that it’s okay if you don’t want him to call you Dad; I just need to know. But, also, if you don’t mind, I don’t mind. In fact,” her voice comes out a little strained and there are tears in her eyes, “I kind of like the idea of you being his Dad.”
“Yeah?” There are tears in his eyes now, too, and his throat feels tight.
She nods. “Yeah.”
He reaches out his hand and encourages her to move closer, while he shifts a little closer her direction, as well. Her head ends up resting on his shoulder, and he wraps his arm behind her back. “I’d be honored to be his Dad, Liv.”
He waits a beat; thinks about whether or not to take the risk. Decides it’s worth it. “I’d also be honored if you’d let me take you out on a date sometime.”
“I’d like that, El.”