AN: It's been a long time kids. I've been mad busy and I don't even remember how I was goign to end my old stories, so I'm starting with this one. I wanted to post this on Mothers day, but I go held up. At any rate- i have several chapters almost finished and I know exactly how I want to end this, so this one will end I PROMISE!

That and I'm just dying for some new EO. New EO AH! So have at it. Hope you're all doing well and drop me your thoughts.

Framed

"Moses in the reeds"

Stabler Residence

May 11, 2016

Mother's day

Eli sat on the worn out living room couch in his Sunday best. His young crystal blue eyes blankly starred at the old family photos strategically placed on the mantel in front of him. The fare faced family in the pictures smiled back. They were the perfect Middle American family adorn in their hand-me-down formal wear and early nineties hair. Mom, Dad, four kids, all blonde, moral, and smiling. Of course things were different now, happy, but different. Eli often found himself wondering what "the old days" felt like. He'd heard of them, but couldn't imagine them. His eyes focused on the picture beside it. Mom, Dad, and a bouncing baby boy. It was his first birthday. His fat cheeks blushed under his dark complexion and thick dark brown hair. He wondered why he was the only one that didn't look like them. He wondered if he was even a part of the family in that old photo.

Stupid, of course you are. Who else would your parents be? Foster care…Aliens…nice strangers… Do I just wish I were special? Stupid.

The house was quiet, except for the running hair dryer in the upstairs bathroom. Eli shook off his thoughts. He'd never even noticed he was different until recently. Heck, until recently, he'd thought he looked just like the mom that had raised him.

It all started in health class.

Flashback

Mrs. Hollis sat on the edge of her desk smiling at Eli's presentation. Her blue eyes and light blonde hair always made him blush.

"Eli, tell us about your family tree."

He cleared his throat and shifted around nervously from one foot to the other as the classroom shifted around in their seats with a comatose expression on their fifth-grade- nothing faces.

"Well…these are my grandparents. They came from Ireland and Germany. They had kids. That's my dad… mom. My sisters…my brother, Dickie…that's it, I guess."

Mrs. Hollis politely grinned and pointed to the sketch of the woman at the bottom of the page.

"And who's that?"

Eli could feel his palms sweating. He hated classroom presentations, and he hated having to talk about...her. Not to mention, Mrs. Hollis gave him butterflies. He swallowed hard trying to find the words to describe a woman he'd never spoken of. His best friend Jimmy Davis silently taunted him with a kissy face and a snicker from behind Mrs. Hollis' back. And Mrs. Hollis smiled at him.

"You okay?"

"Ah…yeah, that's…just more family."

"She must be pretty special. She's very detailed."

Eli's eyes flickered to the drawing and he blushed…again..and even harder.

"Yep…she's…she's there too…"

The class waited for him to answer, but before he could say it, the bell rang.

Flash to now.

The interrogation was over, but the question remained…Who was this woman. Along with those old photos and the sketch he drew from looking at this particular picture so frequently was all he really knew of her. She was a part of the house, like any other fixture. The photos glared at him again and he stopped himself from leaving the room.

They were all like ghosts. Memories he could faintly remember; outings he would only know through vicarious stories. Wedding photos, baby photos, family portraits, his father at work, fishing trips, baseball games, and soccer camp. They were all a blur to him, even the ones that he'd witnessed.

Aside from his awkward memories and his unusual hair, he knew why his mind was fixed on the mantel. And if someone had found him starring at the one photo he couldn't take his eyes from, he would have felt embarrassed. Yet, there he was…transfixed. She looked like a lovely woman and he could tell from the photo that she and his father loved each other at one time. Her hands rested on his shoulder so naturally.

"Eli, are you ready?"

His mom's voice sounded from the upstairs bathroom. Eli blinked back to reality.

"Eli."

His pre-teen slouch straightened to a standing position as he mumbled towards the ceiling. "Yeah."

The full head of shaggy hair fell over his face as he looked down at his IPod and headed for the front door.

"Let me know when they get here," she cried from upstairs.

The sound of the family mini van's horn could be heard from the street as she called down to him.

"They're here," he mumbled again.

She was running the water in the bathroom.

"Mom," he said a little louder.

"Yes," she sang sweetly from the top of the steps.

"They're here."

"Oh! Okay, give me a second."

Olivia stomped down the staircase in a plain black knee length dress with an arm full of flowers and an earring in her hand.

When she reached Eli, she placed the flowers between her legs and attempted to fix his wooly hair before he could dodge her.

"We should have got your hair trimmed. You're starting to look like a disgruntled middle-schooler."

"It's fine. Stop," he grumbled while fixing earphones to his head and pulling away from her.

Olivia's face sunk in a bit as she grabbed her coat. "Well, at least pull it behind your ears during the memorial service. People want to see your beautiful blue eyes."

"Fine."

She finished putting on her earring in the hallway mirror. Her eyes flickered from her reflection to her stepson as he clicked through his IPod. He was only ten, but he was older than she'd ever imagined him to be. The little boy she'd helped raise and kiss good night everyday for eight and a half years was starting to get a mind of his own.

"E, did you want to say anything today at the ceremony?"

"Huh?"

Olivia took one last look at herself in the hallway mirror as Eli jammed his hands into his suit coat pockets.

"Well, I was thinking," Olivia continued. "You know, she is your real mom…or was your real mom. I know you didn't know her, but I think she would have liked knowing that you had a hand in this. It's nice that the new school is recognizing her good deeds. She was responsible for all of the books in their library at one point. Raised all of the money on her own, you know. She volunteered all of her spare time to reading to foster kids. And she loved you. Maybe a prayer or possibly a brief thanks to the library for naming the building after her. I don't know about you but I think you're old enough to do that kind of thing, if you'd lik…"

"No."

Olivia touched his arm before he could walk out of the door.

"Hey," She pulled an earphone from his ear. "It's okay to feel upset or uncomfortable."

"I'm not upset."

"I'm sure it's hard not knowing your real mother. When I was your age I didn't know who my father was and I questioned myself everyday because of it."

"I know. You've told me a thousand times. I don't want to talk about it."

The silent pause was thunderous.

"Okay," Olivia said with a forced smile. "but if you change your mind-"

"I won't."

"Well, if you do-"

"It's stupid anyway."

The front door opened interrupting Olivia's slow boiling frustration.

Elliot's head poked in towards them. "Let's go. We're gonna be late."

Olivia nodded silently in reply and Eli pulled his hands from his pockets to make a beeline for the door. His I-pod hit the floor, in his pursuit to recklessly avoid the situation. Olivia bent down and lifted the square of metal into his hands. He grabbed it from her and pushed for the screen door.

"Thank you," Elliot said in his nagging dad voice.

"Thanks," Eli mumbled.

"What? I couldn't hear you."

"Elliot, will you leave him alon-," Olivia attempted to get out.

"Thank you, Olivia!," Eli yelled before slamming through the door and trudging towards the running van.

Olivia's eyes fluttered to a close.

"Olivia? Since when did he start calling you that," Elliot gawked.

"Let's just forget about it. He can call me whatever he wants. That's fine."

Elliot closed the door behind her. "With who, him or you?"

Olivia gave him that annoyed glare and he kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll talk to him," Elliot said nonchalantly.

"Will you?"

Elliot was almost offended. "Yeah…What's wrong?"

"You need to tell him everything."

"I told you, I will."

Olivia turned away from his stare. She was tired of the argument. Eli would never be old enough for Elliot.

"Liv, it's mother's day. I can feel your daggers from here, but let's give it a day."

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, I promise. I love you, sweety," he smiled.

She smiled back as he grabbed her hand.

They fell into their easy stride as they headed towards the mini van. They had come a long way in the last ten years. Things were just starting to feel normal. Shoulder to shoulder. And this time, hand in hand. It was a picture that close friends were familiar with. The only difference now was that instead of interrogating criminals they questioned themselves and the children they'd committed their lives to.

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8 Years earlier

16th Precinct

Manhattan

June 15, 2008

10pm

Father's Day

Olivia looked up from her computer to see Elliot strolling in from the hallway in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants.

"Hey," he nodded as he sifted through his top desk drawer.

"Hey…shouldn't you be on a boat with your hoard of children, a fishing pole, and a case of beer," Olivia questioned with a lifted brow.

Elliot's face fell into a weary smile. His shoulder's hunched down a bit as he avoided her gaze. "Yeah…you need a break, Benson."

"I do?"

His right hand pulled out a set of keys from the back of the drawer. "Yeah, you're wearing the same shirt you had on yesterday. That and I need a beer…and you know way too much about me. Come on."

He threw the keys at her and headed for the elevator.

For a second Olivia sat frozen at her desk with the keys dangling from her hand. Keys that read 'Harley' across the top of them. She looked up at Munch, who gave her an eye roll. The swivel chair rolled out from under her as she stood up and clicked her computer into sleep mode.

"Elliot what…"

The elevator dinged. "Come on, I only have twelve more hours to enjoy my day off, lets go."

Munch turned his back towards them with a sly smile across his face. "I saw nothing."

Olivia shook her head in annoyance and headed towards the hallway.

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOOOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOE

"When did you buy this? And why?"

Elliot handed her a helmet and lifted his leg over the motorcycle. "I've had it for awhile. And why? Because I could."

She looked around the Precinct garage and then back at the ridiculous Harley between Elliot's legs.

"And they let you park it here?"

"Well, I haven't been towed yet. Hop on," he said before revving the engine.

Olivia placed the helmet on her head and apprehensively got onto the bike. Her pelvis meshed with the back of his and just before she could think too much about where her hands were going to go, he pulled them around his waist and backed out of the space.

"Hang on," he yelled.

The two of them zoomed out of the parking garage and through Manhattan. Olivia comfortably nestled herself behind him and enjoyed the summer breeze on her face. She didn't much care for surprises or secrets, but there wasn't much she could say over a growling engine and his warm body between her legs.

They got to the edge of Manhattan and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. At a stop light Olivia lifted her lips towards Elliot's ear.

"Where are we going," she yelled.

"My dad's bar."

"Your dad owns a bar?"

"No, he's dead….and poor. He just went there all of the time. It's a great little Irish pub. You'll love it."

"Why are you taking me? Shouldn't you be with your family?"

"Why? Because you said you were tired of all the pubs being taken over by cosmopolitans. I assure you- this place won't even know what that means!"

Olivia smiled but noticed that his eyes were avoiding her sideways glance. "Yeah, but what about Kathy?"

Before he could answer the light turned green and the bike roared beneath them. Elliot felt her squeeze him tightly and for the first time in months he felt alive.

Once they got to the pub Elliot stifled her questions and lead her to the front of the bar.

A beat up Cadillac pulled into an open space across from Chief O'Neill's Pud and Grill. A dark figure flashed a few photos of Elliot holding the door open for Olivia. The crusty man smiled. His teeth were yellow and crocked, and he coughed in mid laugh from years of smoking way too many cigarettes. His nicotine-incrusted fingers clicked the roll of film and then placed the disposable camera on the leather seat beside the stick shift.

It was the beginning……..

AN: Don't forget to leave me your two cents. It helps me write faster. Choa!