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How she had gotten to this point, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she was on the far side of tipsy, a bottle of wine in, surrounded by the three Stabler women. She had come over for dinner, only to have Elliot called out to a case that he couldn’t hold off until tomorrow, one that didn’t need SVU. She would have left, but Noah was with the Carisi clan for the evening, and Kathleen, Maureen, and Lizzie were quite convincing. Dickie had some date to get to, and Eli went off to see his friends, leaving just them.
They had convinced her to stay, citing she now had clothes here and Dad would want her to stay, even if he wasn’t here. They planned on raiding his fancy wine cabinet and insisted she help. Maureen too was off kid duty for the night and ready for some fun. And now, here they were, laughing over Kathleen and Lizzie’s dating escapades, each with their own personal bottle of vino.
“I swear, my dating life is like a sad Taylor Swift song!” Kathleen said seriously in a way only a drunk girl could.
“Everyone’s love life is like a sad Taylor Swift song at some point, Katie.” Maureen laughed.
“Remember when I played You Belong with Me on repeat for like three months when Jimmy dumped me right before homecoming?” Lizzie grinned like it was now a fond memory, “Leave it to our girl T-Swift to get us through some dark times.” She threw back the last sip of her wine.
“Yep.” Maureen laughed, “Even now, when the kids are nuts I blast You Need to Calm Down. Something refreshing about it.”
“Red.” Liv admitted, before realizing that may give too much away. “My car’s speakers never recovered.”
“What? EVEN YOU?” Kathleen asked, shocked, “You, the badass Captain Benson, wallow to Taylor Swift? God, maybe there is hope for me.”
“Katie, my love life has been an absolute train wreck until very recently.” Liv acknowledged.
“Alright, do tell.” Maureen refilled her glass, “Who got you blasting Red?”
“Who do you think?” Liv laughed, obviously a little lost in a memory.
“Oh my God, Dad?” Lizzie sat up straighter, “Fucking men.”
“Lizzie!” Kathleen cackled.
“What? Men suck. I may love Dad, but he’s still a fucking man.” She shrugged. “And they all fucking suck.”
“Lizzie’s drunk.” Maureen chuckled.
“Yeah, well so am I.” Kathleen grinned playfully, “And as much as men suck, I want one.” She pouted, before obviously getting an idea, “Liv! Is that detective who works for you single?”
“Who? Velasco?” She asked with a smirk.
“Joe? I think? Something like that.”
“Yeah, Velasco.” Liv chuckled, “Tall dark and handsome. Don’t tell your father, but I’ll give you his number. He asked about you too.”
“NO SHIT?!” Maureen squealed, “Dad’s going to lose it if you date a detective! This is awesome!”
“FUCK DAD.” Lizzie lifted her glass, “He made Liv sing a sad T-Swift song.”
“PREACH.” Kathleen lifted her glass, hopping off the chair to turn the stereo on, obviously picking a Taylor Swift playlist, “You think he’s awake now?”
“One way to find out.” Liv texted Kathleen his contact info.
“If you get me laid, I will love you forever.” Kathleen sighed, “It’s been too long.”
“YOUR FATHER IS GOING TO KILL ME. DO NOT. OH MY GOD KATIE!” Liv laughed.
“He’ll live.” Kathleen grinned, “Besides you’re drunk because of me, if he comes home tonight, he can thank me for getting him laid.” She said casually as she typed out a message to Joe.
“EW!!!” Lizzie yelled with a laugh as Liv’s jaw dropped and her cheeks turned red.
“You going to deny it?” Kathleen raised an eyebrow at Olivia as she hit send.
“I —“ she smiled guiltily, biting her lip, “I plead the fifth.” She said causing the three girls to laugh.
“I am both happy for you and horrified that it’s with my father.” Maureen cringed, “Now what did he do to get you blasting Red?”
“Oh come on, Maureen! Isn’t it obvious?” Kathleen realized the song changed to Red on its own. “ITS A SIGN!! Come on Liv! Let’s sing all our old sad songs, it’s cathartic.” She started to dance, then sing, “LOVIN HIM IS LIKE DRIVING A NEW MASERATI DOWN A DEAD END STREET!”
“FASTER THAN THE WIND PASSIONATE AS SIN ENDING SO SUDDENLY!” Lizzie joined in.
“Wait, when Mom and Dad were split up did you guys —?” Kathleen paused.
“No, nothing ever happened until recently, just…”
“I get it.” Kathleen nodded before smiling and spinning around, pulling Liv off her chair causing her to laugh, “TOUCHING HIM WAS LIKE REALIZING ALL YOU EVER WANTED WAS RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU!”
“MEMORIZING HIM WAS AS EASY AS KNOWING ALL THE WORDS TO YOUR OLD FAVORITE SONG!!” Maureen joined in, not even bothering to get her glass and grabbing the bottle instead.
Liv did the same, not one to usually let loose, but she also hadn’t had this much wine in years, “LOSING HIM WAS BLUE LIKE ID NEVER KNOWN, MISSING HIM WAS DARK GRAY ALL ALONE, FORGETTING HIM WAS LIKE TRYING TO KNOW SOMEONE YOU NEVER MET, BUT LOVING HIM WAS RED!!” She danced around with the three Stabler girls, the music loud enough they could easily get a noise complaint. She didn’t care, Kathleen was right it was kind of cathartic, especially now that she and Elliot had made it.
They continued as the song went on, Lizzie jumping on the couch with her own bottle of wine as a microphone. Suddenly, the door opened and there stood the cause of this, looking quite confused, but completely amused.
“What’s uh — going on here?” He yelled over the music. “I could hear you all from the street.”
“FUCK YOU DAD! MEN SUCK” Lizzie squealed with laughter continuing to dance on the couch, until she realized what she said, “I MEAN —“
He cocked his head while he eyed Olivia, looking for answers, thankfully laughing at his daughters antics, realizing she was having fun, not actually mad. “Raided the wine I’m guessing?” He glanced at his three girls who continued to dance and sing, their now empty wine bottles acting as microphones.
Olivia walked up to him with a laugh.
“LIV! STAY STRONG! CHICKS OVER DICKS.”
“The song had a happy ending, Kathleen!” Liv never let her eyes leave Elliot’s, “Your kids got me drunk.”
“I see that.” He huffed a laugh taking her bottle and placing it on the side table.
“EVEN YOU MADE LIV SING A SAD T-SWIFT SONG!!”
“What? No I didn’t!” He argued back.
“You kind of did.” Liv laughed at his shock.
“Oh god, that’s like the ultimate sin in this house.” He smiled at her, pretending to look scared.
“CAUSE LOVIN HIM WAS RED, YEAH YEAH RED, BURNING RED!!” The girls sang.
“Hopefully this wasn’t recent?” He asked softly.
“No, sad Taylor has been retired for a few months now.” Olivia laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck, showing a rare level of affection around other people.
“Good.” He grinned, kissing her hello, “Dancing with Our Hands Tied was mine for you.”
"Didn't peg you for a Taylor Swift fan, Stabler." She teased
"I have three daughters. It happened against my will."
She chuckled, “Dancing with Our Hands Tied you say? I don’t know that one.”
He grinned, “No need to anymore. Our hands are no longer tied.”
“No they’re not.” She said softly, as he spun her around to the next song, dancing with her in his living room as his three daughters looked on, still having their own fun. Sparks Fly came on next, and when the three Stabler girls jumped up and down singing, Elliot pulled Olivia over and joined them playfully.
She laughed, this being a side of Elliot she had never seen. If only she could record it for Ayanna and Fin. Big, tough, hulked-out Stabler singing corny Taylor Swift lyrics with his grown daughters was funny, and absolutely adorable. She loved that man and though they were definitely different people than they were a decade ago, dancing being undeniable evidence, she was excited to learn more about this version. As she joined them, she smiled, knowing they still meshed perfectly.