An Unusual Courtship

Chapter Two

Barba was pleasantly surprised to find Oliva standing outside his office the next morning, this time waiting for him with a cup of coffee.

"Hey, you didn't come all the way over here just to get Noah's car did you? I told you I would be happy to bring it by later." He told her as he took the coffee from her, she had enough to do he hated that she had come out of her way.

Olivia shook her head as she took a sip of her own coffee, "No, although he will be glad to get it back. I came over because I have a favor to ask."

Barba laughed, "I should have known with the coffee, well as far as I know you don't have a new case yet so it must be a personal favor that should make it pretty easy to say yes."

Olivia smiled at him, "I need another emergency contact and person who can pick Noah up from preschool other than me and Lucy. I don't want to put anyone from my squad down because if I can't get their chances are they wouldn't be able to either. Chances are Lucy will be able to get him most of the time but I have to have someone else, I know it's a lot to ask…" she started to ramble nervously stopping only when she felt his hand on her arm.

"Liv, I would be happy to do it, thank you for asking me." He told her as he watched the relief flash across her brown eyes and her lips turn back into a smile.

"Thank you, I should probably get to work now before Finn quits on me, he doesn't like to be left in charge for too long." She laughed as she started to walk off stopping before she turned back to him, "Hey, what are you doing for dinner tonight? We are having lasagna and cupcakes to celebrate Noah starting preschool tomorrow, if you want to come over." She offered.

"I would love to, can I bring anything?" He asked her.

"Just his red car back." She laughed, "See you around six."

BarsonBarsonBarson

Olivia opened the door surprised to find Barba with his arms full. She looked him over quickly, he must have left work early because he was in jeans and a sweater. She did not get to see him out of his work clothes very often and had to admit she did not mind the sight. She shifted her view from him to the bags that he was holding. There was a large gift bag with racecars all over it and a smaller red bag.

"What did you do Barba?" She asked

"Why, hello to you too Liv. May I come in?" He asked with a smirk walking past her as she stepped aside. "It smells great."

"Barba!" Noah said happily as they walked into the room then he quickly spotted the bags he was carrying. "Presents for me?"

"Noah, that's not polite." Oliva corrected

Barba just laughed, "One present for you Amigo and one for Mommy."

"I have mine now?" Noah asked excitedly

"Noah!" Oliva corrected

"May I please have mine now?" Noah corrected himself carefully concentration on each word.

Barba looked quickly at Olivia who nodded her approval. He handed the bag to Noah who took it happily, making quick work of discarding the tissue paper and pulling out the new matching backpack and lunch box that Barba had bought him. Both bags were black with shiny red race cars on them. Noah quickly dropped the bags and ran to Barba.

"Thank you Barba." He said as he threw his arms around him.

"You're welcome Amigo." Barba told him as he hugged him back.

Olivia looked at the two of them in amazement, thinking that it was the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for her son. She really did not know what to think about it except she was grateful.

"You have my red car?" She heard Noah ask.

"Yes, and I brought these too, in case you needed more." Barba told him pulling out a brand new pack of cars that Noah had missed in the bag.

"Yay!" Noah said pulling the packaging off the cars before spotting the other bag that Barba had brought in.

"Mommy present now." He insisted.

Barba smiled as he picked up the other bag and handed it to Olivia, "I thought the first day of school might be a hard so I go you a little something."

"You didn't need to do that." She told him as she pulled a flat square jewelry box from the bag. She opened the box slowly to see a sterling silver necklace with a simple amethyst stone hanging from it.

"Barba" She said in surprise as she ran her fingers over it.

"Do you like it?" He asked with uncharacteristic nervousness.

"It's beautiful, yes." She told him with a smile she did not know what to make of the gift but she knew to refuse it would devastate him and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

"It's Noah's birthstone, right?" He asked praying he got the date right from the forms he had watched her fill out February 18th, 2013.

Olivia smiled at him again, "Yes, it's perfect Barba, thank you."

"I noticed that you never got another necklace after your fearless one, I thought this might be a nice replacement."

"Can you help me with it?" She asked as she undid the clasp and place it around her neck.

Barba moved around behind her, moving her hair as he reached for the silver chain he fixed the clasp and let his hands rest briefly against her skin.

"Barba play cars" Noah said pulling on the sleeve on his sweater.

Oliva turned around and placed a kiss on his cheek, "Thank you".

BarsonBarsonBarson

The next few weeks were fairly typical ones, new cases, a trial to prepare for, and Noah settling into his new school. He was more than settling in he seemed to be thriving in his new environment. He came home every day talking about his new friends and teachers. Barba it seemed was becoming a more regular part of their lives too. Anytime that there was work to do in the evening he would insist they go back to her place to do it, knowing that Olivia hated to be out past Noah's bedtime. On one of those nights they were finishing dinner when Noah spoke up.

"I want to play soccer with Chris." He told them.

Olivia looked at him in surprise, "It's winter Buddy, I don't think you can play soccer right now, maybe in the spring." She told him hoping by spring he would forget about it. She could not imagine adding anything else to their schedule.

"No, Chris says they play inside," He said before running and grabbing something from his school bag. "See" he told them handing Barba a flyer.

"Oh, Liv this is at the place right just down the street, it looks like for his age it's for parents and kids together." Barba said reading it over. "They meet on Saturday mornings for an hour."

"Please Mommy." Noah begged.

Olivia pursed her lips, and was about to say something when Barba spoke up, "I could take him."

Olivia looked at him like he had grown a second head and Noah started clapping and jumping up and down, "Yes, I play soccer with Barba, I play soccer with Barba!"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Olivia asked him,

"It's for an hour on Saturday for six weeks Liv, I think I can handle it. I will go by and sign him up tomorrow." He assured her.

Saturday morning arrived and Barba was at her door at eight thirty, Noah had been up for two hours ready to go to his first practice. He ran to the door dragging his bag behind him when he heard the bell ring, Olivia chased after him talking to Rollins on her phone. She opened the door to Barba mouthing, that she would be just a minute. He turned his attention to Noah.

"Are you ready Amigo?" He asked the boy

"Yes, I have my cleats, and my ball in my bag," He told him.

"Good job, go get your water bottle while I talk to Mommy." He told him as he heard Olivia get off the phone with Amanda.

"Hey, sorry about that, we caught a case. I hate to ask but do you think you can handle soccer on your own?" She asked him.

"Liv, when I told you I would take him, I meant I meant I would take him. We'll be fine, go to work." He told her.

"I will call Lucy and have her meet you back here in an hour."

"Don't call Lucy, Liv we will be fine, we'll see you when you are done."

"It could be all day." She warned him

"Noah, get your bag we're going to be late." He called to the kitchen.

Olivia rolled her eyes knowing the debate was over she bent down and gave Noah a hug, "I'm sorry My Love, I'm going to miss practice, but Barba is going to take you then stay with you today, be good for him."

"I play with Barba all day?" He asked

Barba smiled, "You and me all day."

Olivia smiled at the two of them it was then that she realized that Rafael Barba was dressed in black athletic pants, running shoes, and a t-shirt like the one Noah was wearing that said, "Little Kickers". She grinned at him.

"What" he asked dryly.

"I was just thinking this is a lot different than your yacht clothes you use to wear on Saturdays." She teased.

"Don't you have some horrific crime to solve?" He asked rolling his eyes at her.

It was well after Noah's bedtime when Olivia finally made her way back into the apartment. She slipped her shoes off, hung up her coat noticing the absolute quiet around her.

"Barba?" She called out quietly as she walked into the living room, she found him at her table his laptop open working. "Hey" She said softly setting her bag down on one of the chairs.

"Hi, how did it go?" He asked looking up from his laptop his face falling when he saw the cut and swelling next to her eye. "Liv, what the hell happened?" He asked standing up and walking over to her.

"Our suspect has issues with women in authority." She explained.

"I wonder how he feels about pissed off District Attorneys?" He asked anger creeping over his face. "Go sit down, I'll get some ice."

"It's a little late for ice, I think." She told him.

"Really Liv, could you not argue with me about this?"

Olivia shook her head and went and sat on the couch Barba appeared moments later with a bag of ice and the first aid kit, turning on the lamp next to the couch.

"Let me look at it." He said touching around her eye gently. "You're going to have a good black eye that's for sure. Did anyone take a picture of it?"

"Yes, Counselor, we know what evidence is." She said half amused and half annoyed.

"Sorry, habit." He said applying some antibiotic cream to the cut before placing the band aid over it and then holding ice on it.

"Did you care for a lot of black eyes at Harvard?"

"You forget how and where I grew up." He reminded her scooting her hair back so he could examine the rest of her face. "Did he get you anywhere else?"

"No, I put a stop to him pretty quickly." She said with a slight smile.

"Of course you did." He smiled back at her still not making any attempt to move away from her.

"How was soccer?" She asked him.

A huge smile crossed his face, "He's a natural, I'm seeing a college scholarship, maybe professional"

Oliva attempted to roll her eyes but winced with pain. "Have you taken anything for it?" He asked her the concern taking back over.

"I will before I go to bed." She promised.

He slowly removed the ice from the side of face and examined the area, leaning in and kissing it softly before moving back. "I should let you get some sleep, and I have to be in arraignment in the morning." He told her.

"Barba, why are you going to arraignment on a Sunday morning?" She asked

"Because I want this bastard to know what he's in for from the beginning."

"Barba…" She started to protest.

"Get some sleep Liv, I will call you after arraignment." He told her with a soft smile before leaving her on the couch wondering what exactly he was going to do in court the next day.

TBC