A/N: For the purposes of this universe, 'the-episode-that-shall-not-be-named' didn't happen, but I'm keeping the 'seeing colours' conversation because, well, why wouldn't you?

Basically just imagine ''the-episode-that-shall-not-be-named' was replaced with a case that shook Barba to the core and Liv pulled him through. Then, they had the colours conversation, but Rafael didn't leave and his response to Olivia's "And?" was something completely different.

September 2018

"Dinner's nearly ready," Olivia called from the kitchen where she was stirring sauce on the stove.

Rafael set his pen and legal pad aside on the sofa and stood. "Want me to go and drag mi amigo away from his Lego?" he asked.

"Would you mind?" Olivia asked, a relieved look on her face.

She had already been the 'bad cop' this week as far her son was concerned so wasn't relishing telling him to tidy up, so he could come and eat vegetables. Getting back into the routine of school and reasonable bedtimes wasn't something Noah was enjoying. As a result, getting him to put his toys away so he could get ready for bed, or waking him in a morning had made things very tense between the two of them for the last couple of days.

He entered the kitchen and wrapped an arm around her, placing a gentle kiss to her cheek. "Not at all."

She turned into his embrace, meeting his gaze with a soft smile. "You're the best."

Rafael chuckled as he pulled away. "I'll remind you of that when I won't get you the warrant I know you're going to ask me for tomorrow."

"I thought we'd agreed to keep our professional and personal lives separate?"

"Verbal agreement. Wouldn't stand up in court," he replied, backing away as Olivia playfully brandished the spoon at him.

He was still smiling to himself as he approached Noah's room, a smile that only grew as he slowly peered around the slightly open door.

Noah was not playing with his Lego as Rafael had expected. Instead, he was sat cross-legged on his bed, Eddie in his lap, reading.

"There are two kinds of elephant…," Noah read, and Rafael realised with a swell of emotion that he was reading the book to Eddie as if the stuffed animal could understand every word he was saying. Rafael stood back, leaning on the door frame as Noah continued, painstakingly sounding out some quite tricky words for a six-year-old.

"…A-f-r-i-c-a-n… African elephants and A-s-i-a-n… Asian elephants. They are not the same size. African elephants are bigger. Asian elephants have much smaller ears."

Noah regarded Eddie carefully for a few moments before seeming to come to a decision. "Your ears are pretty big, so I guess you're an African Elephant."

The boy skipped on a few pages, scanning the book for something. It was clear when he found it as his face lit up. He turned Eddie, so the stuffed animal could 'look' at the page.

"African elephants are the world's l-a-r-g-e-s-t… largest land m-a-m-m-a-l… mammal. They live in herds led by a m-a-t-r-i-a-r-c-h… matri… matri…" Noah frowned at this new, confusing word and Rafael decided now would be a good time to step in.

"Matriarch," he said gently. "Elephant herds are led by a matriarch."

"Thanks Uncle Rafa," grinned Noah, turning back to his book. "They live in herds led by a matriarch." He frowned again. "What's a matriarch?" he asked, putting the book down.

"It's a woman… a girl elephant, who is in charge of the family of elephants."

"Like Momma is at work?" Noah asked seriously

"Kind of," Rafael agreed with a chuckle. "Though I wouldn't let her hear you compare her to an elephant, you might not get any ice-cream."

Noah let out a full belly laugh at the thought of his mom as an elephant. While he was chuckling to himself, Rafael picked up the discarded book, turning it over in his hands.

"This is a pretty tricky book, mi amigo. Where'd you get it?"

"From the library at school," Noah replied. With a slight shrug, he explained, "I just wanted Eddie to know about his family."

Rafael hesitated a moment, glancing back, part of him hoping Olivia would be on her way to rescue him from this conversation. When he found the hallway empty, he took a breath and sat on the bed next to Noah.

"Like you want to?" he asked gently.

Olivia had been forced to tell Noah he was adopted the previous month when, after taking him to visit Sheila Porter at the psychiatric facility in which she was currently residing, the boy's grandmother revealed that Olivia wasn't his real mom. Olivia was understandably angry at the woman; Noah had cried all the way home from their visit, confused about what his grandmother had said.

Olivia had kept it simple and age-appropriate – telling him that his mother had died when he was a baby and she had adopted him – but Noah was, naturally, curious about his biological mother.

"You know you can ask your mom any questions you have about Ellie, don't you?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, she told me."

"So, what's the problem?"

Noah bit his lip.

"Hey, you know you can tell me anything," Rafael reminded him.

When his relationship with Olivia had moved beyond friendship, Rafael found that things changed with Noah too. It was mainly due to proximity. Rafael was around more, often present for dinner and bedtime and more recently, at breakfast too. Spending time with his girlfriend meant spending time with her son which, much to Rafael's surprise, he found he didn't mind. In fact, he quite enjoyed being more 'hands-on' with Noah. He helped with homework and read bedtime stories

"I don't want Momma to be upset," he admitted. "Or to think I don't love her anymore."

Rafael's chest tightened at Noah's words. He was a perceptive little soul, more sensitive to others than most children his age.

He wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder. "Your mom knows you love her, Noah. I promise. Just as much as she loves you. And she will always love you, no matter how many questions you have about Ellie."

"Uncle Rafa's right, sweet boy."

Both Rafael and Noah turned at the sound of Olivia's voice, and found her leaning against the door frame. Noah looked away, embarrassed that his mom had overheard their conversation. Rafael met her gaze though, giving her a soft, sympathetic smile, despite the dampness in her eyes. Pushing off the door jamb Olivia crossed the threshold and approached the bed. Sitting on the other side of Noah, she ran her hand through his curls.

"You can always ask about Ellie," she assured him. "I can't promise to know all the answers – I didn't know her that well, but you can ask, and we can try and find out."

"From Grandma Sheila?"

Olivia pressed her lips together. "Maybe."

"You were mad at her," Noah pointed out.

"I was," Olivia admitted. "I still am. I wanted to wait to tell you about Ellie until you were older, so it wouldn't upset you so much. Grandma Sheila knew that, but she told you anyway."

"Can I still see her?"

Rafael glanced at Olivia over the top of Noah's head and could almost hear the internal struggle she was experiencing. She didn't want to keep Noah from his only connection to Ellie, but she didn't know if she could bear to be within 10 feet of the woman at the moment.

"We'll see," she eventually said. "Now, dinner is ready, so why don't you go and wash up. There might be ice-cream for dessert," she added, as a caveat to hopefully prevent a meltdown when Noah noticed the vegetables on his plate.

"Yay! Ice-cream!" Noah jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom.

Olivia stood to follow him, but Rafael reached for her hand, pulling her back. "I know it's not my place but, if you want, I can take Noah to see Sheila."

"Y-you'd do that?"

He gave her hand a little squeeze. "For you and Noah, I'd do anything."