There are a few moments in her life that would rank higher in a list of 'Never again would be too soon'; most of which involve shootouts, hostage situations, or other similar near-death experiences. But being caught without pants by her co-workers whilst in her secret boyfriend's apartment, that was definitely in the top 10. Which considering her life, is saying something.
Though now it seems this particular situation is repeating itself (though different boyfriend, different apartment) as she has opened the door to Rafael's condo expecting the Thai delivery person (why is it always fucking Thai food?) and is faced with Fin and Rollins, she realizes that while she is fully clothed (small mercies), the Harvard sweatpants and men's button down shirt are so obviously not hers she might as well be wearing a shirt with 'Property of Rafael Barba' written across the front.
The trio of cops stands speechless, the silence so complete that Liv can hear Rafael in the back of the condo finish his phone call and head towards them, calling out to her, "Fin and Rollins are on their way over here- they're picking up that warrant for Harrison. You might want to get dress-" he abruptly gets cut off by his girlfriend.
"Too late," Liv finally finds her voice.
"Shit." He never was eloquent when caught off guard.
Fin holds out a take out bag, "Dude said it was prepaid."
The first time this happened, she stayed frozen as her boyfriend mouthed off to her partner and slammed the door.
This time, it is the sound of tiny feet scampering into the room that breaks the trance.
"Mama! Rafa! Da teebee bwoken! Zoomi ah gone!" Noah exclaims as he runs straight for Barba and launches himself into the lawyer's arms.
"Make Zoomi come back Rafa? Pwease?" Noah puts his hands on Barba's cheeks and leans in so their noses are touching.
Fin and Rollins are both wide-eyed, shocked not at the fact that Olivia is here (frankly they had been placing bets on them sleeping together since Cassidy vanished from the picture), but that Noah was; clearly settled for the night, already in his pajamas.
Olivia is grateful for the distraction her son has provided, pushing through the awkwardness to address her son. "Noah, look who it is- it's Uncle Fin and Auntie Amanda! Say hello, please."
Noah redirects his attention to the detectives still standing outside the door. "Hi. Wanna watch Zoomi wis me? Rafa fix it. Now." His last word comes out as a command.
"Noah..." Olivia reminds, her 'mom tone' obvious.
"Pwease. Now, pwease." Noah corrects his manners and looks at the adults with a charming grin.
"Uncle Fin and Auntie Amanda are here to see Rafael for work, buddy. Mama will get your show back on for you," Liv says, reaching out to take Noah from Barba's arms.
Barba laughs, "Yeah, like you can fix the TV. Last time you had to FaceTime me so I could walk you through it!" He addresses Fin and Rollins, "Why don't you guys come in, it'll only take a minute then we can leave these snugglebugs to help Team Umizoomi solve the mystery of the day and we can draw up that warrant in my office."
Olivia rolls her eyes at her boyfriend but gestures to her subordinates to follow him down the hall. She closes the door behind them and leans against it, taking a moment to breathe, and remind herself that just because people know about their relationship, doesn't mean it's going to fall apart.
When she gets to the living room, Noah is still clinging tightly to Rafael, who is trying to juggle three remotes and the toddler.
Finally making eye contact with Fin and Amanda, she notices the big smiles on their faces, and decides to get it over with, "Okay guys, have at it."
The two detectives share a glance, and Amanda is the one to answer, "Well, I know it's not really our business, but when did you move in together?"
"Um- we didn't," Liv answers. "But Noah has stuff here, and we spend a couple nights a week. We've been together for awhile."
"We need a date, Babygirl. Gotta settle a couple...wagers...amongst the squad," Fin interjects.
"You BET on us?" Liv is more amused than offended.
"Um, yeah. But we bet on lots of things. Amanda has a gambling problem you kn-" Fin is cut off by his partner's elbow slamming soundly into his rib cage.
"Just some idle musings, Sarge. Nothing that you need to worry about," Amanda tries to smooth things over just as the theme song for Noah's show starts blasting out of the speakers.
"Sorry, wrong remote!" Rafael apologizes as he frantically hits the down arrow with no result.
"Dat one, Rafa," Noah points to the smallest remote, and Liv laughs when it turns out to fix the problem.
"Come here, my love," Liv says to Noah, "let Rafa go finish his work so he can read you a story before bed."
"Kay Mama," Noah agrees, and allows Barba to pass him into his mother's arms.
"This way," Barba leads Fin and Rollins down the hall to the second bedroom that he uses as an office. It has a large corner desk, bookcases lining one complete wall, a large filing cabinet, and looking very out of place, a crib with an assortment of stuffed toys thrown inside.
There is a stack of papers laying on the tray of the printer; Barba makes a beeline for them and quickly reads through them before handing it off to Rollins.
"I was speaking with Judge Nichols a few minutes ago, she'll be in her office all evening so she's probably your best bet to get this signed quickly," Barba says.
"Thanks, man," Fin replies, as he claps Barba on the shoulder. "Fuck this up- you got nowhere to hide, got it?" he adds in an undertone, completely serious.
Barba gulps and nods, he had expected this.
They return to the living room to find Noah snuggled on his mother's lap, yelling out numbers in response to the android bot doing math on the TV.
"We'll let y'all get back to your evening, sorry for the... interruption," Amanda says, clutching the file with their warrant inside.
"Don't worry about it," Liv smiles. "It was bound to come out sooner or later. We weren't really hiding it, so much as not advertising anything."
"Right..." the adults all share a laugh at Fin, which causes Noah to shush them.
Barba pauses the cartoon and prompts Noah, "Say goodbye Noah."
Noah looks at his Aunt and Uncle and gives a tired wave, "Buh bye."
"Bye, guys," Liv says quietly, still holding Noah on her lap. "Call me if you need me, I have a built in babysitter now," she adds, shooting a smirk in Rafael's direction.
After locking up behind the detectives, Barba makes a detour back to the office to shut down his computer and get the room ready for Noah's bedtime. He grabs a well-loved copy of 'Goodnight Gorilla', Noah's book of choice since they went to the Bronx Zoo a few weeks before.
"Perfect timing," Liv comments, as he joins them just as the characters break into the crazy shake, signifying the end of the episode.
Noah giggles as he shakes his head and then lets out a huge yawn.
Barba sits on the couch next to Liv and Noah, and they settle in to read the bedtime story.
Last time, she and Brian ate Pad Thai on his couch followed by hot loud sex and a wake up call courtesy of IAB.
This time, she gets story time and cuddles with her little man and dinner on a balcony overlooking the city followed by hot quiet sex and a wake up call courtesy of a certain little boy yelling for Cheerios.
Thanks for all the follows and reviews, I appreciate them all! I don't think I'm ready for a multi chapter fic yet, but these one shots have been fun.