Entry for the Barson Spring Fic-A-Thon by thebarsondaily on Tumblr
Prompt: Cherry blossoms
Wow, okay, this once again got out of hand and ended up being way longer than I intended. A big thank you to barsonaddict, who had a look at it during the production phase and reassured me once again that I hadn't fucked up.
I hope you all enjoy this, I'm looking forward to your feedback! :)
Of A Perfect Chaotic Wedding
Olivia Benson had never been that kind of woman that dreamt of romantic spring weddings, lacy white wedding gowns and all these traditional activities for weddings that were discussed in those bridal magazines she'd never laid a hand on.
She'd learned early in her life that there were no fairy tales in the real world, that life usually held mostly negative surprises, and that finding Prince Charming who would remain Prince Charming forever was an impossible task. In the last decade or so, she'd started to come to terms with being alone, a single mother, and opposite to what many pitying mothers in the waiting room of doctors or at the preschool had predicted, she didn't feel miserable about it at all. Noah made her happy, the happiest she'd ever been in her life, and she didn't need anything else.
No spring weddings with pastel colours, every shade carefully matched, from the flowers over the bridesmaid's dresses and the groomsmen's ties. No big crowd of guests, witnessing a moment that was just about two people vowing to be together forever - or at least until one of them decided it was time to part and find younger partners. Olivia had never aspired to be part of such an event, except maybe as a guest, able to drink as much wine as she wanted from the open bar while the sappy speeches were delivered.
And yet…
As she watched herself in the mirror, her fingers nervously smoothing down the knee-length white dress with some lace, her hair in soft curls and everyone around her bustling to get ready, she couldn't help but smile. It didn't feel odd at all. Maybe because while she knew that some of the decorations were straight from the latest issue of Bride Today – Lucia really needed to diversify her reading – she knew that it wasn't big, not exaggerated, but simply about celebrating a connection with their closest friends and family.
"You ready, Liv?" Amanda asked softly, stepping in to hand Liv her bouquet of flowers, and she gave her friend a happy smile.
"Yes, I can barely wait."
"Well, but don't run down the aisle, Liv, we don't wanna give Mrs B a heart attack because the photographer is missing all the good wedding shots," Fin joked with a relaxed grin as he straightened his tie, and everyone in the room chuckled; Fin's chest seemed to swell a little at the sight of Rita Calhoun smirking before turning to the only picture of slight misery in the room.
"Fia, you want some champagne?" she teased the young woman who was trying to keep her head from dropping from sleepiness while dabbing makeup on a giant hickey on her neck.
"Oh, fuck off, smartass. As if you were any better last night," Fia grumbled, placing her curls over shoulder so the hickey was concealed, and stood up slowly. "And may I remind you who didn't stop me from ordering cocktails? You're a witch. Someone got an aspirin?"
"Well, yes, we drank just as much, but we at least got some sleep tonight, unlike a certain young lady here."
Amanda, Rita and Liv exchanged triumphant grins, obviously enjoying the situation, and Fia, holding up the rose-coloured skirt of her dress, slipped into her heels, glaring at them. "I'll never trust you guys with a drink again."
"Don't act like you didn't have fun last night, it was quite obvious, despite the awkwardness. You're just annoyed we all know by now what you were up to."
"And it was a wild night for everyone," Amanda added, then turned to Liv. "And you almost didn't want to have a party at all."
OoO
"Oh come on, Liv, you only are a bachelorette once in your life! See, I'm that optimistic about Barba and you. You gotta have a party," Amanda pleaded, Rita and Fia standing right behind her as backup, while Olivia took off her glasses and put them on her desk.
"Another ambush? You're not going to give up on this, huh?"
It had been two weeks since the other women had first proposed a bachelorette party, and even though Liv had kept declining, they were in her office yet again.
"Come on, Liv, a little party never killed nobody," Rita argued and Fia nodded, though looking on the verge of teasing her about her use of words.
"Besides, we now got an idea that'll convince you."
Raising her eyebrow, Olivia gave them a 'try me' glance and the women exchanged triumphant grins.
"Either you don't want the boys running off to a strip club with your fiancé or you just want Rafi to be there, too, for a simple pre-wedding party. We assume it's the latter, and so we would like to propose a normal party with all our friends and colleagues. No strippers, except you want to share one, just some drinks at a bar with live music and some dancing. How does that sound?"
Fia and Rita shot Amanda confused stares – they hadn't discussed bands – but quickly smiled at Liv as well, to make her think that they'd come up with this together. The three women held their breaths in anticipation as Olivia looked up at them, arms crossed in front of her chest, chair tipped back a little.
It seemed like an eternity had passed until she finally smiled a little, shrugging.
"Okay, that sounds nice. I'm just against anything too big or cheesy. Just a nice, relaxing evening with friends, please."
"What the bride wishes, the bride gets, Liv," Amanda answered with a grin, exaggerating a little by giving her a thumbs up and a wink. "I'm your bridesmaid, I'll take care of everything. With my two grooms… women here. Okay, we gotta go. Come on, girls, we have a party to organise."
Before Olivia had the chance to change her opinion, the three women turned on their heels and marched out of her office, banging the door close behind them. Releasing a breath, Olivia leaned back in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose when she thought about the fact that she would have to break the news about the party to her fiancé. Hopefully he would just embrace the opportunity to get drunk and watch his mother do the same and embarrass herself instead of seeing that yet another aspect of their wedding was taken out of their hands. While he'd accepted the lack of control – there was no point in arguing with Lucia – he'd become rather passionate in expressing his objections lately, and Olivia could already hear him making an unwilling noise and say that he would stay home with Noah.
Though Olivia couldn't help but suspect that he secretly liked that he didn't have to stress about organisational stuff but had someone almost professional for that job with Lucia. And he probably didn't feel as negative about the decorations either. He just liked to play the grumpy groom for the alliteration.
-i-
Outside Olivia's office, Fia and Rita were feeling light rushes of panic at the developments, and after exchanging some nervous glances – once again – Fia decided to confront Amanda about her sudden change of plans.
"Uhm, Amanda? How do we organise a live band on such short notice? I mean, I've had connections for the stripper, but a band is a little trickier… you really gotta stop these spontaneous ideas."
Amanda smirked at Fia's worried tone, glancing over to the desks in the squad room. "Oh, I already know. I just say 'The Cuffs'."
Fia cocked an eyebrow. "The Cuffs? Is this some weird bondage thing? I thought we were going for an ordinary party."
"And you pride yourself to know the best bars and the best live bands in the city? Oh please," Amanda teased and gestured for Rita and Fia to follow her, then she strode over to Sergeant Mike Dodds' desk with a winning smile. She knew that he wouldn't say no, for several reasons, though she'd deduced the most important one from the way he'd tried to hide that he'd been glancing over to them again and again. Time to put a foot in the door and kill two birds with one stone.
"Oh Mike, I was just telling Fia and Rita about the awesome music you and your band are making. And Delfia here had the amazing idea that maybe you guys could play at the little pre-wedding party that we're planning for Olivia and Rafael. She's totally into rock music," Amanda said in an Oscar-worthy innocent and casual tone, while Fia could barely control her expression. The smile she shot Mike was a little crooked, but it still seemed to light up his face a little. Rita noted that both were getting slightly pink cheeks and was glad for her perfected poker face, otherwise she would have grinned like a Cheshire Cat upon realising what Amanda's hidden agenda was.
Lucia Barba would be proud.
"Oh, really?"
Mike sat up a little straighter, his face lighting up, and Amanda was sure that he could barely suppress the urge to straighten his tie to look even more presentable.
"Well, I just happened to hear that you guys are good and Liv would surely like having someone she knows provide some special atmosphere to the party."
Amanda and Rita had to admit that Fia was quite good at improvising, though Mike seemed too distracted by her mere presence to be able to pick up on it, anyway. And combining that fact with the winning, charming demeanour she displayed upon continuing to speak, he really didn't have a chance anymore. "It would mean a lot to her, surely. And I would appreciate it too, of course. Music can be the make or break of a party."
She used the deer eyes for good measure – go big or go home was one of her favourite mottos – and Mike had visible trouble to appear casual when he met her gaze; Fia found herself thinking that it was adorable.
"Well, if Liv is okay with it... I'm sure the others would be up to it, too."
Fia smiled gratefully, swearing to herself that she would give Amanda hell for doing this. Though she should probably have anticipated that a trained detective would notice the interested glances she'd thrown the handsome Sergeant when Rita and her had entered the squad room earlier. He totally wasn't her type, but well... a lady could have a look at what the menu had to offer.
"Amazing, Mike. We're really looking forward to your performance, then," Amanda said with a smirk, turning to the women with a wink, and Fia would have grimaced at her if Mike hadn't still been looking at her. Something inside her started to prickle as their gazes met again, and for a second she was in danger of getting lost in his green eyes; she was more than grateful when Rita nudged her lightly, muttering something about getting lunch together into her ear.
She rolled her eyes about the knowing smirk on Amanda's face and inwardly prepared a speech about how looking didn't mean she wanted something from him and that she was too busy with work and the wedding to even think about something else than casual one time things, but Amanda marched off towards her desk before she could start ranting.
"Was that really necessary?" she hissed to Rita when they made their way towards the elevator, throwing a last grateful smile to Mike Dodds.
"He said yes, didn't he?"
"He probably would have agreed anyway."
Rita just smirked to herself, knowing that arguing about what had just happened wouldn't be of any use. They'd achieved their goals for the day, and that was all that mattered.
Now their focus would be a hell of a party.
OoO
There was a light knock on the door and Lucia entered a moment later, leading Jesse and Noah into the room with a soft smile. "Our adorable flower kids are ready! Oh, Olivia, you look wonderful!"
"Mummy is always pretty," Noah said while fiddling with his bow tie, beaming at his mother. Jesse was holding the basket with the petals of cherry blossoms tightly, looking a little nervous about the task ahead. Everyone had said that it was an important one, and she really didn't want to do anything wrong and upset Auntie Livy and Uncle Rafa.
"Thank you, baby, that's sweet of you."
Olivia chuckled lightly and gave her son a kiss on the cheek, feeling a little emotional. How much he'd grown, and how much their life had changed from good to even better, thanks to the man that was waiting for them outside. Shaking her head to hold back tears – Rita had invested too much work in the makeup to allow it to smudge – and straightened her back. "Is everyone good to go? Fia?"
"I'll try not to throw up," Fia grumbled back, skillfully ignoring her aunt's glare as she took the small bouquet from her. "Let's go before Liv loses patience and elopes with Rafael. I'd never live in peace again."
Rita chuckled, obviously loving the snide remark, and Lucia's lips became a thin, disapproving line for a moment before she seemed to push a button inside and became her vibrant, overly-excited self again.
"She's right, we should get going. Oh, Rita, Odafin, I thought maybe you two could walk down the aisle together, as the oldest and best friends of Olivia and Rafael and brides… eh… bridesman and groomslady?"
Lucia frowned lightly as she stumbled over the not so traditional role allocation, but she didn't let it stop her for long. "Now hush, Olivia wants to get married! After last night you owe me that, Rita!"
Fin and Rita both hesitated for a second, exchanging almost tentative glances, but when Fin offered Rita his arm she took it despite showing signs of reluctance. A pleased sound, almost like a coo, left Lucia and Rita rolled her eyes when Lucia said in a high-pitched tone: "Oh, don't you two look wonderful together?"
"Let's get going, okay?" Rita grumbled and Amanda took Noah's and Jesse's hands, leading them to the door before any discussion could come up and ruin the mood. Everyone followed them, with Lucia hastily slipping past them so she would be able to get into the room in which the wedding ceremony and celebration would take place before they would start everything with their entry.
"Are you two ready?"
"I'm nervous," Jesse admitted quietly, looking up at her mother with worry in her big blue eyes, and Amanda knelt down carefully, pushing one of her blonde curls out of her face.
"You know that's okay, baby? It means you care. But there's nothing to worry about. Noah is with you and you two just throw the petals for Auntie Olivia and give them the rings, I know you can do it."
She pressed a kiss on her daughter's forehead and Jesse smiled tentatively when Noah took her hand, her best friend's presence obviously giving her courage. Everyone smiled fondly at the two children as they got in position, and Olivia felt her head swimming with excitement and joy. There wasn't even the tiniest trace of doubt inside her, and she found herself almost shifting impatiently, anticipation bubbling inside her while everyone lined up according to Lucia's carefully outlined plan. Releasing a breath upon the start of the soft music played by a string quartet, a soft smile came onto Olivia's face.
The procession slowly started moving – nobody dared to walk too fast lest to provoke Lucia's anger – and in this moment Olivia barely had more than a few fleeting glances for the beautiful and tasteful decoration of the room, soft colours and fabrics everywhere, accompanied by candles. Neither did she pay much attention to the guests sitting in a circle around the middle of the room, knowing that she would have enough time to be emotional about all the old friends and family who'd decided to witness this day and share her happiness.
Even the music – and Lucia's soft sobs in the front row – faded into the background when her gaze fell onto the man standing under the canopy of dark wood, fabric and branches with blossoms wreathed around it. Their eyes met as if they were naturally drawn towards each other, and her heart jumped when she saw the tears shimmering in his eyes, his face wearing an expression of pure happiness.
In just a few minutes, she would marry this man, the love of her life. A promise to share her life with him, the good times and the bad, and there'd never been someone in her life whom she felt so ready to commit to in this way. Saying it out loud today, in this small ceremony, might only be a symbolic ritual to her, for they - and everyone around them - had been aware of their special relationship for years, but yet she felt like it meant a lot. This way, she could let the whole world know that she was his and he was hers. And after years of waiting, she really did have the desire to scream it out loud.
Their gazes remained locked, barely aware of how Jesse and Noah threw the flowers with proud grins, how Rita and Fin parted and took their places on the left and right sides of the canopy, joined by Fia and Amanda. So they also were oblivious of how Fia tried to avoid and searched for the gaze of a certain Sergeant seated in the second row with some other SVU colleagues, which resulted in a quite amusing expression that she tried to mask with a smile.
"Glad you came, mi amor," Rafael whispered with a smirk when she stopped next to him, lacing their fingers together.
"Wouldn't have missed this day for nothing in the world," she replied softly, both of them ignoring Lucia's loud sobs. Pure joy was radiating between them, and in this moment, all the stress and chaos around the organisation of this day was forgotten – just as the fact that the previous night hadn't gone as planned either, and that some people in the wedding party had in fact almost missed this day.
OoO
The bar was well-filled with friends and colleagues when Rafael and Olivia arrived, and the moment they were through the door Rita stood in front of them with drinks. "Oh, there you are. We'd been worrying you wouldn't get Rafael to attend. I know he can be such a party pooper."
Rafael shot Rita a sharp glance, taking the scotch from her and shot back: "Rita, I'm not sure you should come to the wedding at all. You're handling divorces as well, that would be like, y'know, testing fate. Fia will handle being my witness on her own just fine."
They all knew that he didn't mean a single word, that he was just trying to act grumpy and inconvenienced, yet Rita made a show of gasping and placing one hand over her heart.
"Wow, why didn't Lucia tell me? I would never want to endanger your happy marriage. Of course I'll stay away."
"As if, you couldn't stay away from free drinks," Rafael teases lightly, the corners of his lips twitching upwards, and Rita slapped his shoulder lightly before making an inviting gesture towards the room.
"I hope you two have fun. Avoid Carisi, though, he read about some case on the newspaper and is now out for shoptalk. Took me an agonisingly long half hour to get rid of him."
"Thanks for the heads up."
With a smirk, she turned around and walked off towards the bar, where Fia was studying the cocktail card with such an intense interest that Rafael could only conclude that his mother was around somewhere. Since Rafael and Olivia had announced their engagement, Lucia had started to get even more vocal – if that was even possible – about her wish that her niece would finally find a man to settle down with, get married herself, and, most importantly, give Lucia more grandchildren. That Fia had no desire for any of these things didn't matter, of course. Rafael would have to have a serious talk with her sometime before the ceremony, he didn't want anything to get out of control at the reception.
"Let's find somewhere to sit, mi amor, shall we?"
-i-
"Rita, what do you think? Long Island Iced Tea?" Fia asked with a sigh of defeat when Rita slipped on the barstool next to the younger woman. Shrugging, Rita nodded at the bartender who'd already listened in, and the man started mixing their cocktails.
"I try to tell myself that everything will be over once this wedding weekend is done, but I got the feeling it'll only get worse. Maybe I should try to get into a ballet company in Europe or something. Or Asia. Just somewhere far away."
"Not the best idea," Rita replied, patting Fia's shoulder. "She would call you in the middle of the night."
"As if she isn't doing that already."
They both released a sigh and sat in silence until their drinks were placed in front of them. Lucia could tire out even the strongest person.
Just as Fia took a sip of her cocktail, she saw someone lean against the bar from the corner of her eye and almost choked on the liquid when a low voice that had followed her into her dreams said: "A beer, please."
Mike Dodds gave them a polite smile when the two women turned towards him, Rita focused on their reactions to each other. The slightly pink cheeks and forced casual smiles, paired with other subdued nervous reactions, were unmistakable to her, enforcing the opinion that she'd formed on these two the day they'd convinced Olivia about the party tonight.
"Hey Dodds, why don't you sit with us for a bit?" Rita offered cheekily, noting with satisfaction how Fia's hand slipped in surprise while in the middle of pushing one of her dark curls behind her ear.
"I would really love to, but we want to start playing in a minute."
He seemed genuinely sorry, and Rita relished in how obvious these two were. "Oh, we're really looking forward to that, Dodds. Fia's been talking about nothing else the last days. Maybe you want to join us for a drink afterwards, though."
Fia elbowed her, but continued smiling at Mike, whose cheeks seemed to take a deeper shade of pink when Fia's and his gazes met briefly. Nodding with a light shrug, he almost stumbled into a barstool while shuffling away from the bar. "Sure, I'd love to. See you later, Counselor. Miss R…uhm, Fia."
"What do you think you're doing?" Fia hissed once Mike was on his way to the stage on the other side of the bar, her eyes gliding over the retreating form of the tall, muscular Sergeant.
"Oh, just bringing the two of you a bit closer. You're clearly interested."
"I'm not! He's not my type! Also I'm not looking for anything!"
Fia finally managed to tear her gaze away from him and turned to Rita with a somewhat frustrated expression, giving herself away. Rita rose an eyebrow, staring at the younger woman, and Fia took a few long sips of her drink before admitting: "Fine. He's a guapo and I'd totally lay him if he wasn't a guest at the wedding."
"Pardon, I don't see your problem."
After another few sips, Fia sighed heavily, as if Rita had said something stupid. "You've seriously forgotten what you taught me? Never have a one night stand with someone you know you'll see again. It'll only get you into trouble."
With a dismissive noise, Rita waved one hand. "That doesn't apply to wedding weekends. It means you get the chance to fuck him twice if he's good. Don't act like you're into making reasonable decisions."
"You got a point," Fia agreed, a tiny smirk playing around the corners of her lips when Mike and his band got onto the stage under the applause of some cops, getting ready to start their first song. "I'll have Lucia annoying me the whole weekend, I should have some fun to make up for that."
"That's the spirit."
They chuckled lightly, clinking their glasses together before drinking a few huge gulps, listening with satisfaction how 'The Cuffs' started playing, Mike's voice – sometimes powerful, sometimes soft – filling the room. After two or three songs, during which Fia had been more or less unable to take her eyes off the singing and guitar-playing Sergeant, Rita decided that her work was done and that it was time to take care of the only person who could rain on her – or rather Fia's – parade tonight.
Grabbing her drink and slipping off her barstool, she let her gaze glide through the room until she spotted her target – Lucia was sitting in a booth, sipping a glass of wine while letting Amanda show her the newest cute pictures of Jesse.
She would make sure Lucia stayed sufficiently distracted and couldn't interfere.
"Oh Lucia, my dear, do you want another glass of wine?"
-i-
The later the hour got, the more alcohol flowed, the more boisterously the mood got, and Olivia didn't regret to have agreed to this party. It wasn't often that she had the opportunity to let loose like this, and after the stress of organising the wedding, this was more than welcome. She would have to thank Rita, Fia and Amanda for this later.
Rafael and her had taken some spins on the dancefloor while 'The Cuffs' had played, and now she was at her fourth glass of wine, standing in a corner with Amanda and making poor Fin squirm.
"Come on, Fin, everyone here knows you got a crush on Rita. This weekend is the perfect opportunity for you to finally make a move."
"Yeah, also if you don't tell her, we'll do that for you eventually," Amanda added threateningly, causing Fin to shift from one foot onto the other, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"She's not interested. Ain't going to make a fool of myself."
Amanda and Olivia exchanged annoyed glances, for they knew that Fin wasn't right about Rita's interest, and gave their friend dark stares. "You just have to try, Fin. Ask her for a dance."
Fin gazed over his shoulder, and the three of them scanned the room for the defense attorney, but failed to spot her. "Huh, she was there a minute ago, taking Lucia off the dancefloor after her Dancing Queen performance."
They checked the room again, but they could only see Carisi excitedly holding Rafael captive in a booth, talking about the article he'd read; Olivia briefly considered coming to his rescue, but then she decided against it. He'd been warned to stay away from Carisi.
Some of their friends were still dancing or chatting by the bar, the crowd a little too thick to make out most of the faces.
"See, she anticipated your plan and fled," Fin grumbled, obviously trying to act relieved even though there was a flash of disappointment visible on his face. "I'm gonna get myself another beer."
Amanda made an annoyed noise and turned to Olivia, frowning. "Where the hell are they? I had big plans!"
"No idea," Olivia replied with a shrug, letting her gaze glide over the crowd a last time. "They'll reappear sooner or later."
Little did she know that 'later' would be the case.
OoO
Olivia was incredibly proud that she'd managed not to burst into tears while Rafael and her exchanged their vows, even though they'd pricked in her eyes persistently throughout the short but sweet ceremony. Suddenly, it all seemed to go a lot quicker than anticipated, and she wished she could have slowed time while Rafael and her took their rings from a proudly beaming Noah and slipped them on each other's fingers, Lucia continuing to sob loudly in the background. If the moment had passed slower, she would have taken the time to savour the sweet kiss they exchanged, the words describing their deep love during their vows; she would have gazed at every single smiling face around her, able to appreciate how happy everyone was for them.
But even though time didn't slow down, she still managed to capture some of the quickly passing events and commit them to memory, knowing that most of the things that passed in a blur today would be much clearer when she had the time to lean back and think of them again.
From one moment to the other, Rafael and her were husband and wife, walking through the long lines of their friends and families with Noah between them, cherry blossoms raining down on them, and while she didn't feel like it was a big moment of change, she couldn't deny that it was one of extraordinary happiness.
Showing off her little family would always be her favourite thing to do.
After a few minutes to themselves, during which Rafael and her just grinned at each other like kids who'd just successfully pulled off a prank while listening to Noah retelling his view of the ceremony, they got out to the little cocktail reception before the dinner. Olivia felt like her head was swimming from all the congratulations, but Rafael and her floated that wave of gracefully. When it started to ebb away eventually, she let her gaze wander around the room, taking in everything.
The old colleagues who wouldn't have met again if it hadn't been for today conversing happily.
Jesse and Noah running around and snatching the sweet appetisers off the trays of the waiters and thinking the adults didn't notice.
Lucia, being back to her flamboyant self, parading around the room and making sure that conversation and champagne flowed in every room, though she seemed to get uncomfortable when she moved her left shoulder too much.
There was Fia, who was downing the rest of a big cup of coffee and immediately went for a cocktail again, obviously telling herself that a hangover wouldn't stop her from having fun, while Mike tried very hard not to stare at her, blushing when their gazes met once or twice. He also looked very distracted when his father tried to involve him into a conversation a moment later, and Olivia couldn't help but smirk.
Amanda was trying to stop Sonny and his never ending appetite from stealing all the appetisers; Rita and Fin were having light conversation with Munch and Nick.
The room was full of life, just like the bar had been the previous evening, their patchwork family being bright, loud, maybe a little whimsical and definitely chaotic, but she knew that neither of them would have it any other way.
OoO
Liv hadn't thought she would be woken by her phone on the morning of her wedding as if it was an ordinary work day, but there she was, carefully shifting out of her fiancé's arms to grab the annoyingly loud device. At least she didn't have a hangover from the party.
"Be-"
"Liv, I know this is your wedding day and you said no stress but… uhm… I got a little problem here."
Amanda's voice sounded slightly panicked; subdued, admittingly, but enough to make Liv sit up in light worry. She knew that her friend wouldn't call her if she deemed the problem at hand serious.
"What's going on, Amanda?"
There was silence on the other end of the line for an agonisingly long moment, and Olivia had to admit that she did have a few wedding horror scenarios flashing in front of her inner eye before Amanda answered slowly, as if she wasn't sure how to word the issue: "Uhm… well… some of the wedding party who agreed to help with the last preparations this morning are… uhm… lost? I can't reach them."
"Who?"
The cop in Olivia caused her to rise, knowing that while it didn't have to be a bad sign, it was always good to not take such matters lightly, just in case.
"Well, Rita is on her way here, but Lucia… she's not answering her phone. And Fia and Mike aren't reachable either."
If it had been only Fia, Olivia wouldn't have been particularly worried, as the young woman tended to be a little chaotic and thus often a bit late, but Mike and Lucia were different. Mike had never been late to work or any other social events the squad had organised, and Lucia was so excited about the wedding that Rafael and her had joked several times that she would spend the night at the venue to make sure everything would be absolutely perfect.
"You tried calling them at home, too?"
"Of course I did. They're not picking up. Do you remember when you last saw them?"
Pausing for a moment, Olivia tried to piece the memories of the previous evening together, but couldn't put her finger on particular times. "Sorry, I don't."
"Me neither. I'll just try to call them again a few times before sending Sonny or Fin to check on them at their places. Maybe they're just nursing a hangover and we're getting all worried for nothing," Amanda said with the practiced calmness she usually displayed on the job, and Olivia made an affirmative noise. Yet she slipped out from under the blankets, not feeling like she could stay in bed any longer; it was a mix of worry if everything would be okay in the end and nervosity about the day that was lying ahead of her.
"Livy, where you going? It's too early."
A smirk curled her lips and creased the corners of her eyes when she heard Rafael's slightly whiny protest from underneath the blankets, and she found herself thinking how she couldn't wait to have that for the rest of her life. His dark hair was a mess sticking away from his head when he emerged, pouting, and she couldn't stop her laughter. "I'm going to make sure our witnesses are present and maybe even a little sober at our wedding, Rafa."
She decided to spare him the details and leaned over the bed to give him a quick kiss, taking the time to mess up his hair a little more. "Noah and you can have a boys breakfast. I'll see you at the wedding. In case you'll get confused, I'm the one in the white dress."
"Can't wait," he mumbled against her lips, smirking lightly, and Olivia sighed, needing to remind herself of the possibility of something serious having happened to some of her closest family so she would not linger too long next to her fiancé.
-i-
Upon arriving at the venue, she spotted Amanda in the lobby, phone pressed to her ear and pacing. "Hey Amanda, any updates?"
"Rita arrived some minutes ago and told me not to worry about Lucia, that she brought her home yesterday and that she should be arriving soon… but I still can't reach Fia and Mike. Neither at home nor on their mobiles," Amanda replied, shaking her head while looking slightly confused, but before Olivia could ask any further questions, one of the entrance doors was slammed open and for a second, it felt like the temperature on this beautiful, sunny spring morning had dropped a few degrees. Lucia Barba marched into the lobby like a general who was out for a bloody battle, an icy expression on her face, and the two women almost took a step backwards. She had one hand pressed on her shoulder, the fingers slightly cramped as if she needed to suppress the urge to rub the skin under her blouse; her voice was as cold as her stare when she spoke, and Olivia, who'd never truly seen her warmth fade, had to admit that she was a tiny bit scared.
"Where's Rita?"
Amanda's mouth opened and closed a few times, then she raised her hand to point at the door leading to the wedding venue, but before Lucia could storm on, Rita came through said doors, smiling when she spotted the elder woman. "Lucia, dear, so good to see you!"
"Deary, I'll make you rethink that statement," Lucia hissed, stepping closer, but Rita appeared completely unfazed by her sharp words and also by the string of Spanish curses that followed them.
"If it's about the tattoo then I have to remind you that it was your idea to get one. You saw mine and told me all about how you always wished you could have one but were always too afraid to get one. And then you decided that it was time to finally get your way," she explained calmly, wrapping one arm around Lucia's shoulder, though careful not to touch the area where she knew fresh ink was now decorating her skin.
"What? Why… why didn't you stop me? I'm far too old for this kind of escapades! This is something Delfia would do, not me!"
Lucia deflated quickly, her voice slightly high-pitched in disbelief, and Olivia didn't know if she was supposed to feel sorry for her or laugh about the revelation. Rafael's reaction when he found out would be very amusing as well.
"How was I supposed to do that? You're unstoppable. Also it looks very good on you, y'know."
A light blush coloured Lucia's cheeks an adorable shade of pink, and she patted Rita's arm lightly, though she didn't look completely convinced yet. "Well, thank you, mija. I guess I'll just need some time to come to terms with this."
"You were being a little wild, there's nothing wrong with that," Olivia said with a soft smirk, feeling a rush of affection for these women who'd accepted her into their little family so easily. "Now that we've settled that, we have one last problem, though. Fia and Mike are still not reachable."
To her utter surprise, Rita made a dismissive gesture and shook her head lightly while stating: "Don't worry, they'll show up on time."
"How do you know that?"
Amanda cocked an eyebrow and Olivia stared at the defense lawyer in confusion, who gave them a triumphant smirk. "Fia has always managed to show up on time, and I'm sure that'll rub off on Mike."
"Are you saying…"
"Yes, they left the bar together last night, after making out in the corner of the room and thinking that nobody could see them," Rita replied, her tone indicating that she might be a little smug about it, causing Amanda to glare.
"You gave her a push, right? Why didn't you tell me what you were planning?"
"Oh, she didn't need a push, she had all the right thoughts in her head already."
Lucia had crossed her arms in front of her chest, her lips pressed together in a thin, disapproving line, but she didn't say anything. Olivia knew for sure that Fia would have the privilege of receiving yet another rant about her unwillingness to bind herself sometime tonight, though.
"Well, treat yourself, girl," Amanda said with a dirty smirk, then let her gaze glide over the other women. "Since we got that issue settled, I guess we can start the last preparations?"
-i-
It was half an hour before the start of the ceremony when Fia finally rushed into the changing room the women occupied, her dark curls still slightly damp from a shower and wearing the dress she'd worn to the party the previous night. Sunglasses shielded her eyes from the sunlight streaming into the room, and she was clinging to a Starbucks coffee as if her life depended on it.
"Look who we got here," Rita teased lightly while Fia hurried to grab her dress from the hanger and went into the little changing area they created, taking big sips of her coffee again and again. "Seems like you didn't make it home last night, girl. At least you made it out of bed finally."
"Shut up, okay?"
"The most important thing is that you had a good time."
Amanda looked as happy as a child on Christmas Eve when she joined Rita in the teasing, the two bustling around the room busily while helping each other and Liv to get ready, and Fia made an annoyed noise while taking off the party dress and slipping into her groomslady dress quickly.
While the three women continued to banter lightly, Fin entered the room with the flowers, but Olivia didn't really pay attention to anything going on around her in that moment. Looking at her reflection, she needed some time to tell herself that this was really happening, and to get her anticipation, nervosity and excitement on a level that allowed her to function.
She had never been that kind of woman that dreamt of romantic spring weddings, lacy white wedding gowns and all these traditional activities for weddings that were discussed in those bridal magazines she'd never laid a hand on.
But for this beautiful day, she didn't mind some traditions, some lace and pink cherry blossoms. They were seasoned with a bit of chaos and a lot of love, for her family, and for the man that she was about to marry, and this combination just made it the perfect day.
THE END