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When Barba approached Olivia's apartment that evening, he had his briefcase in one hand and a bottle of her favourite wine in the other.
The entire walk over he contemplated bringing flowers, but ultimately decided against it; he didn't want to make things even more awkward after the revelations of the afternoon.
Plus, there's that whole thing where she's in a relationship with another man.
Pushing that thought aside, he shifts the wine to his other arm and reaches out to knock on the door.
Immediately he can hear screaming from inside, followed by footsteps. As they get closer he's able to decipher the screaming into words: pizza and man, on a continuous loop.
Olivia opens the door and smiles at him, trying to hold a bouncing Noah from fleeing the apartment. She's beautiful: hair pulled up in a messy bun, leggings, and a threadbare tshirt proclaiming her part of the 'NYPD Academy Class of 92'. Her feet are bare, revealing bright red nail polish on her toes.
He's staring, but luckily she's too focused on her son to notice. Noah's excited screaming has stopped; he's now trying to climb up his mother's leg into her arms.
"Sorry, Barba, come on in," she says, finally picking up the boy. Noah immediately buries his face in her neck. "The pizza is due any minute and somebody is a little excited."
"That's alright. I do that when I'm expecting pizza too," he jokes, then follows the Bensons into their home.
It's been awhile since he's been to her place so it's not surprising that Noah is being shy. He's glad he made an additional stop anticipating this situation.
"Noah, do you remember Mr. Rafael? He's our friend."
Noah doesn't say anything but peeks around to look at Barba. Rafael smiles at him and says, "Hi Noah. The last time I was here I brought you something. Do you remember what it was?"
Olivia gives him a look as if to say, 'he's two- you expect him to remember six months ago?', but stays quiet.
A smile breaks onto Noah's face. "Cookies!"
Rafael shoots Liv a triumphant smirk, then returns his attention to Noah. "You're right! The best cookies in New York. And I brought some today. Do you still like cookies?"
Noah nods his head furiously. "Cookies yummy! Noah cookie monster!"
Rafael and Olivia laugh when Noah starts shoving invisible cookies into his mouth and growling, 'coo-kie'.
The moment is interrupted by the sound of the buzzer announcing the pizza delivery. Olivia starts moving toward the door with Noah still in her arms but stops suddenly when he yells, "Mista Affa-yell!", and lunges for Barba.
"Apparently he's over the pizza man," she says, placing Noah in Barba's arms. He complies, mostly out of reflex, and pulls Noah's tiny body against his chest.
He has held Noah exactly one other time: he was just as terrified then as he is now. At least this time he's prepared. (He watched 'how to hold a baby' videos after Liv left his office that afternoon. He felt a little silly but two million other people had the same idea.)
Carefully Rafael puts his arm under Noah's bum to support his weight, and his other hand rests lightly on the boy's back. Noah grabs at Rafael's tie and says simply, "Pretty."
Barba smiles. "Thank you, Noah. I like to wear ties that are pretty colours."
Noah scrunches his nose and says, "Mista Tuck black tie. Not pretty."
Barba's stomach flip flops at the mention of the IAB Captain. He restrains himself from asking Noah about Tucker, instead changing the subject. "What's your favourite colour, amigo?"
"Umm...red!" Noah answers enthusiastically, pulling on Barba's red tie. "Red mean stop!"
"You're right, Noah. Red means stop."
"Mama like red. Mista Affa-yell like red?"
Barba is surprised at the ease of his interaction with Noah.
"Yes, I like red too. But green is my favourite."
"Green means go!"
Olivia is listening to their chattering from the front door, waiting on the pizza delivery man to make his way to the fourth floor. She has a soft smile on her face, happy that her son is so comfortable with Barba. This is why she invited him over in time for dinner- to see how they got along. It was one thing for Rafael to be attracted to her; she was a package deal these days though. Noah wasn't going anywhere and anyone who wanted to share her life needed to be ready to share Noah's life too.
"Mista Affa-yell has green tie?"
Barba smirks. "Yes. I have lots of different ties. All the colours of the rainbow!"
"Noah no red tie," the boy says sadly. He sticks his bottom lip out in a pout and looks up at Barba through his eyelashes. "Mista Affa-yell share me?"
Barba chuckles lightly. Kids sure learn manipulation techniques early. "Sure, amigo. You can wear my tie. But you have to be careful you don't make it tight. I don't want you to get hurt."
Noah nods seriously and repeats, "Be careful."
Barba carefully places Noah onto the couch, then sits next to him. He quickly removes his tie, undoing the knot. Then he reties it around Noah's neck, making the boy giggle as he inadvertently tickles him.
Noah looks down at the tie dangling down his front and looks up at Barba and says sweetly, "Tanks Mista Affa-yell."
Barba's heart melts a tiny bit. He smiles and says, "You're welcome."
Just then Liv comes back into the living room with the pizza.
"Mama, look at me Mama!" Noah calls out.
"Oh baby you look so handsome!" She gushes, depositing the pizza in the kitchen before joining them on the couch. "Is Mr Rafael spoiling you?"
Noah nods and hops down off the couch. He grabs Barba's hand and starts pulling. "Affa-yell. Play wif me."
Barba stands, but looks to Liv for confirmation.
"Okay, boys. You get five minutes to play before dinner," she says, settling back into the couch. She watches them play for ten minutes before she sets the table and cuts up Noah's pizza.
Dinner is the opposite of Rafael's usual dining experiences. It's loud and messy. More than once Noah exclaims his love of pizza with a full mouth, much to Olivia's dismay. But there are lots of smiles and laughter and neither adult can remember the last time they enjoyed a pizza quite so much.
The next hour goes by in a blur of cookie crumbs and bedtime stories. After assuring a tearful Noah that Mr Rafael will come back to play soon, Olivia tucks her son into bed. She lingers in his room for a few minutes, indulging him with a final rendition of 'Twinkle Twinkle' and making sure he's actually asleep.
Barba made a pot of coffee and is sitting on the couch when he hears her singing. He smiles wistfully, glad that Noah has the love every child deserves. Lost in thought about everything Liv has been through since finding Noah in that dingy motel room, he doesn't notice her enter the room until she sits next to him.
Sitting up straight, he indicates the mug on the coffee table. "Made you some coffee," he says softly.
"Thanks," she returns, just as softly. She reaches out to place her hand on his arm. "And thanks for joining us tonight. I know pizza and playing cars is not your usual Friday night activity."
Barba nods. "You're right, it's not. But I had fun. And I would..." he trails off at the sound of a brisk knock on the door.
Puzzled, as the buzzer hadn't gone off, Olivia excuses herself and heads to the door. She looks through the peephole and barely holds in a groan.