Both Sonny and Rafael had mutually agreed not to reveal their relationship when it started. At first, neither was sure it would last and when it started going on a few months, it slowly shifted from uncertainty to contentment that they didn't want to disrupt by having to disclose at work and come out to their friends and families.

No one could interfere or judge them if they didn't know that half the time that Carisi left the station, he went to Barba's apartment instead of his own, and the other way around. No one else needed to know that the reason that Carisi even knew what Hamilton was, was not because of his sisters like he told Rollins, but because for their six months anniversary Rafael had taken Sonny to his favorite italian restaurant and then to see the hit show. No one needed to know that one of the reasons he started dressing so nice was that Rafael introduced him to a tailor and constantly gave fashion advice like his job was in the business instead of a Manhattan ADA. No one needed to know that all the home cooked food Barba started eating at work wasn't from his mother but from Sonny, who loved to cook.

When Rafael asked him if he would like to go apartment shopping when they had been together for a year, that was when they probably should have at least told someone. But at that point it was so easy. They were in their own little paradise.

They had found the perfect apartment between the courthouse and the precinct. It had a large kitchen for Carisi to cook in, a cozy living room with a large couch for them to both fit on, as well as a good sized closet because, God, Rafael owned a lot of clothes. The mantle was littered with their own photos, one of the whole Carisi clan, one of Rafael's mother and grandmother, and lots of the two of them.

Sonny's favorite was a selfie had taken on one quiet morning. He had woken up with the son and laid in bed, Rafael's head tucked under his chin, playing on his phone. The moment that Rafael started to wake up, Sonny had nudged him to look towards the camera and snapped a photo. Rafael wore a sleepy, content smile and Sonny was actually looking down at him, instead of the camera. It was so utterly domestic, he loved it and gotten it framed.

Because absolutely no one knew about them, they had to have gotten really good at hiding and acting just like coworkers, not boyfriends that lived together. Luckily, everyone just assumed that they were both straight, so if any sort of flirting ever got out of hand, no one thought it was actual flirting, just banter between coworkers.

Like that day Carisi and Barba were arguing back and forth over a case in front of the squad.

"You want to charge the women for asserting their fifth amendment rights?" Barba shot back at Carisi with his signature, I-am-smarter-than-everyone-here smirk.

"After they lied to us and obfuscated our investigation."

"Obfuscated? Yummy."

The two stared at each other for a moment longer than normal before Barba pulled himself away and turned to look at Benson, forcing down the wave of arousal that shot through him and he could tell also affected the other man. Rafael really shouldn't have said that, but his tongue always slips when his boyfriend says something particularly smart in that bloody Staten Island accent.

They had done so well at hiding it from everyone, even their families. Sonny's sisters knew he was dating someone, they just thought it was a girl and were sniffing for information on that, but as he didn't see them as much as he'd like with work, they still didn't know much at all. But Sonny knew it wouldn't last long, his family was relentless.

Tonight was date night, their first in awhile. Cases had been piling up for both of them and they had rarely done more than collapse into bed together late at night and leave early in the morning. But Rafael had just won his case, putting a child molestor in jail for the rest of his natural life, and Sonny had been given the night off after the intense week trying to gather enough evidence to convict the guy.

Sonny agreed to make them traditional seafood paella, a favorite the both shared, and their apartment was filled with the smell of saffron and cooking sausage and shrimp. One of Rafael records played cuban music in the background and he was humming along as he sat at the table sipping wine, watching the relaxed form of his lover dance as he cooked. The two of them had abandoned their work clothes, instead Sonny wore sweatpants and a tight Fordham Law t-shirt. Rafael had on sweatpants as well as a maroon sweater that Sonny always loved seeing him. The two were barefoot and each had glasses of wine on hand as they moved around the kitchen.

Rafael smiled softly as Sonny danced unconsciously to the music in the background as he stirred the food on the pan. He stood and wrapped his arms around the taller man's back and pressed his face into Sonny's back.

"Hey," Sonny said. He turned so they were facing each other and leaned down to kiss Rafael with a happy hum. "I missed this, having time to ourselves."

"Me too," Rafael admitted. "Hopefully we can spend more night like this."

"We could take a vacation," Sonny suggested.

Rafael snorted. "While that idea sounds absolutely heavenly, I have no faith in our jobs letting us take a vacation at the same time."

"Yeah you're probably true," Sonny admits before turning to stir the cooking food. They stood there, Rafael wrapped around Sonny. Sonny hummed along to the tune while Rafael slowly started singing quietly.

It was simple and peaceful.

"I love you, Dominick," Rafael told the detective after a while.

"Love you too, Rafi,"

Somewhere Else In Manhattan

Lucia Barba knew that there was something going on with her son. He didn't come around for Sunday dinner as much, or dinner at all that much, had stopped telling her what things he was doing while he wasn't at work and hadn't invited her over to visit in over six months, when normally he cooked for her every month or so. Anytime she tried to inquire about whether or not he had found a girlfriend, he got cry tight lipped.

She was convinced her son had a girlfriend, and was tired of waiting for her fool of a son to introduce her to his mother. So Lucia decided to pop over to his apartment to get some answers. It was late on a Friday night, he was likely home pouring over case files, she thought.

Grabbing her purse and her coat, she caught a taxi over to his apartment. When she went to buzz in, no one replied for awhile. Perhaps he is out, she thought. But finally, a voice come on the other end, a voice who was most certainly not her sons.

"'Ello?" A man with a British accent asked over the intercom.

"Um," she paused, very confused. "I'm looking for my son, Rafael, is he in?"

"Rafael?" The man responded. "Sorry, ma'am, he moved out six months ago. I moved in the next day."

"What? Moved out? He never said anything to me. Did he say where he was moving to?"

"Uhh.. some complex, uhh…" the man hummed, struggling to remember before he finally remembered the name of an apartment complex a few blocks south and east.

Why would Rafael move and not tell me? She asked herself. She held off calling, knowing he would have a harder time avoiding her questions if she showed up in person.

Fifteen minutes Lucia arrived at the second apartment building. An elderly couple happened to be leaving the building as she arrived, so she held the door for them and was then able to slip inside. Once inside the lobby, she scanned her eyes over the the tenant list.

Floor 6

Barba/Carisi: 612

Carisi… that name sounded familiar but she couldn't remember from where. Who the hell was her son living with that he wouldn't tell his mother about? She had so many questions and a growing anger inside of her because her son had been hiding something, someone, huge from her for who knows how long now. Lucia thought her son trusted her.

As she rode the elevator up to the sixth floor, Lucia considered the craziness of the last half hour. She had always thought she and her son had a good, close relationship, that he could tell her things like he had a girlfriend that he was serious enough about to move in with her. But now she didn't know anymore.

601, 605, 608, 611, 612!

She stood in front of a white door. Inside, she could hear the Cuban music that Rafa always loved and the soft murmur of voice. Adjusting her coat, Lucia raised her hand and knocked strongly. The talking stopped for a moment before the door opened, revealing a man that was definitely not her son.

"Uh, hi?" The man asked. He was tall, with dirty blond hair and and a handsome face. He wore a Fordham Law shirt over his rather impressively muscled chest, if Lucia did say so herself, and sweatpants.

"I'm looking for Rafael." Lucia stated, peering into the apartment. The smell of food cooking hit her.

Suddenly she heard her son. "Dom who's at the door?"

Rafael opened the door wider and he saw her, causing his face to drop in shock.

"Mami, what are you doing here?" He asked, stepping in front of the taller man but not inviting her in, as she noticed.

"Can't a mother drop by to visit her son?" She asked. "Except, when I did, I found out you hadn't lived there for over six months."

Lucia stared at her son, lips thinned. He gulped before moving aside and motioning for the other man to do the same. "I guess you best come in."

"Yes, I think that will be best."

She followed him into a living room area and looked around. The walls were painted cream and covered with the abstract art she expected from her son, but one wall also had what looked like drawings done by children. At Rafael's motioning, she sat on the leather coach and looked to her son who stood awkwardly in front of her, sharing looks with the other man who stood in the doorway of the foyer.

"Mami…" Rafael started.

She pinned him with a stare that normally made kids at her school cry and confess immediately. "What's going on, Rafael Barba?"

Her son sighed again before motioning for the other man to come over. "Mami, this is Detective Dominick Carisi, with the Special Victims Unit. We, uh, we're together, Mami."

Lucia blinked. Then stared.

"Excuse me?"

The Detective stepped forward and knelt before her. "Ma'am, I'm Dominick Carisi, but you can call me Sonny. Your son and I have been together for a year and a half, but no one knew before now. I love your son, ma'am."

She was dreaming, Lucia was sure of it. There was no way her son was in a relationship with a man from Staten Island. She would have known if Rafael liked men, right?

Rafael sat next to her and took her hand before nodding to the man still kneeling before her. "Dominick, can you go check the food?"

"Sure, sure," He stood up and with another smile at her, he squeezed Rafael's shoulder before moving towards the smell of cooking food.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lucia asked, turning towards Rafael. "Why, Rafael?"

Her son sighed again and ran his hand through his hair, a habit she thought he stopped doing in college.

"No one knows, Mami, you're the first. At first, we weren't sure if it would last, and then we got used to it being our secret. We've been talking about starting to tell people, it just became harder and harder to let people in the longer it went out." He explained.

I never even knew you liked men, Rafa," She said sadly, staring at him.

"I-" He broke off. "I experimented in college, and then I was always so busy with work that I never dated anyone for years. But Dominick, we work together, that's how we met. We both have crazy schedules but we make it work. I love him, Mami, and he loves me. I should have told you, I'm sorry."

Rafael looked so downtrodden that Lucia couldn't help but feel some of the ice melt from her heart as she pulled him into a hug. "I forgive you, Chiquito, just don't keep something like this from me again, okay?"

Rafael hugged her back tightly. "Okay."

Just then, Sonny appeared back in the living room with two steaming bowls of paella and two glasses of wine for the two of them. He placed them on the small dining table they had near the large window that had become their eating area. "Here you go, Mrs. Barba, I hope you enjoy."

Lucia looked at the food placed in front of her and then at the Detective as he turned to go back into the kitchen. "Oh, I don't want to interrupt if you two had plans," She tried to protest but the man just waved her off.

"No, no, eat. We're happy to have you here, aren't we, Rafi?" Sonny responded with a smile to his boyfriend.

"Si, Mami, eat. It's been too long anyways."

Soon, Sonny came back with his own bowl and wine and he sat down next to them.

Lucia took a forkful of the paella and nearly moaned in shock. It tasted delicious!

"It's good, isn't it?" Rafael said knowingly.

She looked to his boyfriend. Rafael seemed to call him Dominick but he requested that she call him Sonny, so she would oblige for now. "Sonny, this is amazing."

Sonny beamed. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Lucia, young man. If you are dating my son, you may call me Lucia."

Rafael beamed at her and Sonny nodded in agreement. "Thank you, Lucia."

They ate and talked. They told her how they had gotten together, about their work, the apartment. When her son and his boyfriend - boyfriend, and wasn't that still a shock - went to do the dishes, she got up and wandered around the living area.

All throughout dinner, she could see the chemistry between her son and that man. Sonny could keep up with Rafa's quick wit and sharp tongue. While they ate, they unconsciously held hands on the table top as they ate as if they had been doing it for years. Their love for each other was also visible by the photos on the mantle. She saw a selfie of the two of them in bed, one that someone else must have taken of them where her son had his arm around Sonny's waist as they laughed at something in central park. There was also a photo of a large family and she spotted Sonny in there, it must be his family. Lucia's heart warmed when she saw the photo that of her, Rafa and her mother framed there as well.

Moving away from the mantle, she looked to the walls. Abstract art mixed with framed photos of the Mets and movie posters. A record player stood on a bookcase along one wall which was filled with records, law books, and movies.

Even still, her eyes moved back to the selfie on the mantle. The love in their eyes was palpable, there was no way to stay mad after seeing all of this.

She was happy and would support them, Lucia decided. Her son deserved that.