I Can Read You
AU. Olivia and Rafael meet by chance but it's faith who seems to pull them towards one another. Barson.
Prepare to have a lot of feels.
For Ellie.
Chapter 4 :
There were few times during his adult life that had made Rafael terrified. Most of those fears were somewhat masked by his sharp approach in court this day.
They didn't call him "El Tiburón" for nothing.
But today he was afraid, he'd gotten a call from Katie about Sofia, his little girl had collapsed on the playground, Mrs Pearson had told him he should come and pick her up.
As he drove to the school his head began to pound. A familiar pain in his chest began to surge.
He remembered the dizziness and the pain it had brought him the next morning but mostly he felt sick. He had messages from Eddie and his mother.
Eddie. He was the parent type, he already had a child, one, Rafael had only seen a handful of times.
"Rafi, its Eddy, call me back, you're starting to scare me." He listened to one of his messages.
"I'm going over there, before you hurt yourself." He heard on the recording. That had been 20 minutes before.
He was sure he'd be here any minute.
"Mano, open up!" He heard his friend's voice from the other side of the door. His head spun farther as the shouting increased.
"Rafi, what happened?" Eddie asked as soon as he opened the door. "Your mom called me."
"She did, huh?" He said bitterly. He smelled of a distillery and he knew it. Eddie sighed. "Good, she told you I'm a disappointment?"
"She told me you just left the baby with her." He told him. "What's going on bro? I mean, I know you're hurting Raf, but you know better than that to leave your kid like that."
"The pro speaking from experience huh?" Rafael shot at him, sitting back on the couch. "My mom has done this before, she'll be fine."
Eddie had never seen Rafael like this before, he was the smart one, he was the one to break from the stereotypes and chains, to get out of El Barrio and succeed. Sure as hell he'd never end up like his father.
"Rafi, don't be like that, you can't do that, you have to be responsible." Rafael looked at him. "My marriage isn't perfect but I know I'd never walk out on Theo, that as far as I know, you don't want to do that to your little girl Rafi, you want to show her what a good man is, the best, I know you are."
Rafael sighed. "Mr. Barba?" He recognized Sofia's teacher. "I'm sorry that we had to call you in, but we didn't want to risk it given Sofia's history." Thankfully it wasn't the worst case scenario so she didn't have to be rushed into the hospital.
"Of course, don't apologize, I appreciate you calling." He smiled softly. "Can I take Sofía home?"
"Yes, she'll be right out." Rafael nodded, he glanced at his watch. If he'd known he would have called Katie and she'd take Sofia home but she had told him school would be crazy this week. His phone buzzed. "Carmen? Yes, I don't think I'll be able to get back to the office on time. Put Matt on it, I'll see him at my place later tonight."
Matt was his law student/Protégée. He was a fidgety kind of guy but smarter than most of the kids Barba had had to deal with in his career. He saw Sofia coming out with his teacher and a little boy, he guessed to be her new friend Noah, although he hadn't actually met him.
"Papi? I told them I was fine." Sofia said as soon as she saw him. "You didn't have to come, don't you have work?"
"I do." He said simply. "Matt is coming over to work on the case later." Sofia gave him a look. She really hated being the center of attention, she knew how busy his father was. "Wanna tell me what happened?"
Silence.
"She fell." Noah told him. "She wouldn't open her eyes."
"Maybe Mrs. Pearson can tell me?" He asked. She shrugged.
"She overdid it with the running." Mrs. Pearson explained. "The kids were playing a game and she began to gasp for air."
"I was fine." Sofia stated. "I am."
"Ana Sofia." He never, ever used her full name unless she'd broken a rule. "What did we say about being careful not overdoing yourself…"
"I was just having fun Papi," Sofia said. "I didn't mean it." She knew he was more worried than mad, her father was a man of many layers, Abuelita had explained, he didn't like to show weakness, especially not to her or his family. He always felt the need to be strong.
But sometimes, he just wasn't. "I'm sorry."
Rafael smiled, he reached for her face, crouching down to her level. "Sofi, I'm not mad, you know that, don't you?"
"I didn't want you to worry."
"You could call it that." He admitted shyly. "You know better. We both do." Noah eyed Rafael curiously. He could see he was worried.
"Hello there Noah, thank you for being such a good friend to Sofia." He told him kindly. Noah smiled as Barba offered him his hand. He shook it. " Taking care of her,"
"My mom says it's our job to take care of others." Noah said. "And Sofia is my friend."
"Well, she's lucky to have you." Rafael ruffled his hair.
He carried Sofia home, he wouldn't be feeling better until they reached the apartment. "I am sorry Papi." She told him. "I don't want to die like your Abuelita did. I don't want you to be alone."
He stopped cold on his tracks, putting her down for a moment. "Sofi, what happened to Abuelita was…"
"That she stopped breathing." Sofia said.
"No, she had a heart attack. I mean yes she couldn't breathe but, that's not going to happen to you."
"Because she was old and I'm not?" This made him smile softly. "Little kids die too, Father Simon says there's a lot of angels in heaven that are babies who didn't get to meet their mommy or daddy."
Barba sighed. He often forgot just how young sofia was sometimes because she acted so grown up, mostly telling him off or cheering him on.
"Escúchame." He said softly. "Nunca voy a dejar que te pase nada malo, ¿entiendes? Nunca." He held onto his little girl for dear life.
He was never late, ever. Today was his first day back at the office. Carmen greeted him with a folder and a cup of coffee in hand. He'd be starting easy today, a custody case with social services. Her parents has just died and she was caught stealing from a convenience store.
"Katie Summers, 12." Carmen said. "It's the fifth foster home she's been in in the last seven months, they are not sure if anyone wants to take on a runner."
A runner, the state had labels for every child case, every single one of them. "Are you sure you want to take on this one?" His assistant asked.
This wasn't his type of case but Eddie had asked him to look into it.
"I'm fine." He told her. "Just a little tired."
"Sleep deprived is more like it. Why don't you ask your mom to move in?" He shot her a look.
"No, my mother has a lot to deal with already, plus, I have a nanny." Yes, an old friend of his mother who had offered to take in the baby during his office hours, it was a temporary arrangement of course as she was elderly and could only do so much.
"Huh huh-" She said. "You should have asked for more time." He sighed.
Maybe so.
Katie put her pencil down with a thud. She glanced at the clock and then at her phone. She promised Rafi she'd go home for diner, she'd be bringing it anyway as he and Matt were working late on a case. Rafael had called her to tell her about Sofia. She knew he was worried, more than he should have maybe, but that was Rafi for you.
He always worried about everyone but himself, back when she had first met him, the first day actually, he had seem weary, of her maybe, of having to deal with her like Kayla, her case worker was. She really didn't mean to be such a pain, not all the time anyway, but she didn't want people telling her what to do, she had been doing it on her own for years.
She didn't need anyone.
Or at least that's what she had thought back then.
"Food is here!" She called. Rafael and Matt were in his office, their noses on paper and Sofia was watching cartoons a few yards from them, on her father's line of vision with an oxygen mask on her face. "Hey Sof, how are you feeling?"
"Fine." She told her. "I felt a bit dizzy though, papi says this will help me sleep better" Katie brushed her hair softly.
"Oh man, I'm sorry I wasn't there to pick you up." Katie worried, she knew it would have been a better idea for everyone if she hadn't moved out, but Rafael insisted she needed her space and the whole college experience.
"Guys…" She knocked on the door. "You know, it's a good thing I have a key." Rafael raised his face for the first time, so did Matt.
"Katie Summers, it's great to see you. Haven't kicked you out I see." Matt said with a smile.
"You wish." She said. "I see Rafi still keeps you around."
"Of course. Matt wasn't much older than her, 26 or so, he'd been working in Barba's office for a few years now. "He wouldn't get rid of me."
"Don't tempt me kid." Rafael joked. They moved to the kitchen, Katie handing Sofia a slice of pizza as she went.
Rafael would watch her closely as she ate, her eyes focused on the cartoon she was watching, a smile forming on her face at times.
"You're going to burn a hole through the wall." Katie told him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Rafael woke up to the sound of loud cries. He held the pillow next to him for a moment as he collected himself, his eyes moving to the crib a few feet from the bed.
"Shh…" He said quietly. Sofia was yet to sleep through the night. She had been having some pretty complicated nights lately, just last week landing her in the hospital with a respiratory infection. He took the baby into his arms and rocked her softly, placing her against his chest, he could feel the warmth of the baby's body against his, and it was winter so he begged to god she wouldn't get sick. "You just don't let me have it easy, do you?" He whispered to her. In the dim light he could see she had her fist in her mouth as she began to calm down with the sound of his voice apparently, he moved back to his bed, baby in his arms and laid down, Sofia still resting on his chest. She stared at him. "How about a song huh?" Rafael said, he thought for a minute of a song, he first thought of a Spanish lullaby his mother used to sing when he was little but decided against it.
Then he began singing softly:
Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
He wasn't even halfway through the song when he heard his child's soft snores.
So this was Rafael Centric, I just love writing him and Sofia so much, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. But he met Noah!
Translation:
"Escúchame, Nunca voy a dejar que te pase nada malo, ¿entiendes? Nunca." -Listen to me, I'll never let anything bad happen to you, do you hear me? Never.
I just had that song in my head and whoever who has heard Raúl's rendition of it, well it's so great.
I'd love a review if you get the chance.
