The Journey to Papi
Chapter Four
Rafael had never felt so nervous in his entire life. He told himself he was being ridiculous, it's not like this was something they had not discussed before. They both had admitted this is where they saw themselves before Rafael started spending time with Noah. They had even discussed it with Dr. Lindstrom in one of their sessions, how marriage and becoming officially a family might change things. He wasn't worried that she would say no, but still he felt the ring box in his jacket pocket and he questioned again if he was doing this the right way.
They had recently set Thursday night aside as date night. It usually wasn't anything big but it gave them a chance to reconnect. Tonight he had asked her to meet him at Forlini's for a drink before dinner. He smiled when he saw her come walking in she had obviously been home between work and here. She was wearing jeans, a blouse that was definitely not a work blouse, and boots. He quickly took off his tie stuffing it in his other pocket and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt.
"Hi." She greeted him with a warm kiss before sitting down on the stool next to him.
"Hi, do you have any idea how good you look in that outfit?" He said with his voice lowered and a smile.
She smiled back at him, "I think you might have mentioned that before."
They sat and talked about their days, Noah, and the trial Rafael had starting the next day. As the finished their drinks Rafael found himself begin to grow nervous again.
"Are you all right?" Olivia asked him noticing the change in him.
"Yes, sorry, I guess my mind wondered to tomorrow." He covered quickly.
"We can call it a night if you want. If you need to get ready for tomorrow, I understand." Olivia told him.
Rafael leaned in and kissed her," Absolutely not, let's go get some dinner." He said paying for their drinks and helping her into her coat.
As they left the bar she turned to the right, the direction where more of the restaurants were and he pulled back on her arm a little.
"Hey, I spotted this new Cuban place down this way. Can we give it a try?" He told her, having spent two weeks thinking of a reason to get her to walk in that direction again tonight.
"Are you going to spend all night comparing it to your mother's and abuletia's ?" She teased him.
"Probably." He laughed taking her arm and walking down the same street they had a almost a year ago. Rafael smiled when he saw the snowflakes falling in her hair again. They reached the intersection and Liv pressed the button preparing to cross and Rafael pulled her back and kissed her. It was a long slow kiss that simultaneously sent shivers down her spine and warmed her all the way through.
"Raf…" She said suddenly realizing where they were.
'That's how it should feel when you kiss the person you want to spend the rest of your life with Liv." He told her reminding her of his words from last year.
"What are you saying Rafael?" She asked tears beginning to form in her eyes as she watched hi drop to one knee right there in the middle of Manhattan wearing his suit.
"I am saying that I love you Olivia, the last year had been the best of my life and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me Olivia?" He asked as he finally pulled the ring from his pocket.
Olivia took his hands and pulled him to his feet, "Rafael, I never knew it was possible to love the way we do. You are who I want to spend the rest of my life with. Yes, I will marry you. "She said the tears falling down her face as he pulled her into a kiss.
Olivia blushed when she realized a crowd had formed around them and was beginning to cheer for them. Rafael slid the ring on her finger and wrapped an arm around her. He waved to the crowd ad he and Olivia walked down the street.
They had agreed they would wait until the weekend to tell Noah, they wanted plenty of time to talk with him and for him to see that everything was going to be all right. The next morning though things did not go the way they planned. Rafael had stayed over (truthfully he spent most nights now) and needed to get to court. They were all hurrying about the apartment when Lucy arrived to stay with Noah and then take him to school.
"Rafi take me to school today!" Noah said as he was finishing up his breakfast.
"Sorry Amigo, I have to get to court this morning." He explained.
"Can you pick me up?" Noah asked.
"Probably not, but it's almost the weekend and we can spend it together." Rafael promised.
"Can we go to the Library?" Noah asked.
"Definitely" He told him giving him a quick hug.
Just then Liv came in to the room handing Lucy Noah's bag when the younger woman noticed the ring on her finger.
"Liv! Oh my gosh! Are you two getting married?" She asked excitedly without thinking.
"What? Who is Mommy marrying?" Noah asked.
Rafael and Liv exchanged glanced knowing they had to tell him now.
"Mommy and I are getting married Noah. We are going to be a family, I want to be your Papi." Rafael told him waiting for his reaction.
Noah sat quietly for a minute and then spoke. 'Does Papi mean Daddy?" He asked,
"Yes, that's exactly what it means." Rafael explained.
"Then no, I don't want you to be my Papi." Noah said with tears in his eye before running to his room leaving the three adults staring at each other in confusion.
"I'm so sorry." Lucy said.
"Liv, I have to go jury selection starts in less than an hour." Rafael stammered.
"It's ok, I will talk to him. Call me later." She said kissing him quickly before going to check on her son.
Olivia gently pushed open Noah's door and found him under his covers crying.
"Noah, honey what is wrong?" She asked picking him up and putting him in her lap.
"I love Rafi and don't want him to leave." He cried.
"Noah, I don't understand. Rafi and I are going to get married and he wants to adopt you so that he can be your papi, that means he doesn't want to leave." She tried to explain gently.
"But Jordan and Nate's Daddy's both left and now they only see them sometimes. Nate's daddy lives far away." He cried.
"Oh Noah, Rafi isn't going to leave you. Sometimes Mommies and Daddies can't work things out but I can promise you Rafi and I will never stop trying and that we will both always love you. "She promised him.
"Will Rafi be here every day?" Noah asked.
"Yes, he will live here." Olivia explained.
"He can tuck me in, and make pancakes in the morning?" He pressed further with a smile.
"Yes all of those things." Olivia told him. "Does that sound good?"
Noah nodded and hugged his Mommy, "I want Rafi to live with us and be my Papi." He told her.
They sat and snuggled for a little while until Olivia had to leave for work. She managed to get a quick text to Rafael explaining the situation. She knew he was probably in court already but would be relieved when he saw it.
Rafael did see Olivia's text just a she was walking into the courtroom and felt simultaneously relieved that Noah's reaction had not been about not wanting him to marry Liv but also heartbroken that the boy loved so much worried that he would leave him. He set all of it temporarily from his mind as he focused in on jury selection.
They had been working there way through jury selection when Rafael looked own at his phone and realized he had four missed calls two from Olivia and two from Noah's school. Then he watched as Olivia's name appeared with a text. Noah fell off the monkey bars at school, arm is broken badly, on the way to the hospital.
The judge noticed Rafael's distraction. "Everything all right Mr. Barba?" She asked,
"No, I'm sorry Your Honor, it's my fiancé, our son had an accident and is on his way to the hospital." He explained.
The judge nodded quickly banging her gavel, "We will be in recess until Monday, best wishes to your son." She told him.
"Thank you, Your Honor." He said quickly packing his briefcase stopping when he heard her voice again.
"And congratulations to you and Lieutenant Benson." She added with a smile.
"Thank you Your Honor." He repeated as he ran from the courtroom.
Rafael found his way to the pediatric emergency room rushing to the desk, "I'm looking for Noah Benson." He said.
"Are you related?" The woman at the desk asked.
"He's my son." He all but yelled at the woman showing his ID.
"I'm sorry you aren't listed on his records, I will have to get his mother." The woman explained, luckily Olivia heard them and waved from the hall.
"Raf we are in here." She said waving from their room.
Rafael shot the woman a glare as he ran off to join them. Olivia quickly explained, before they entered the room, that it was broken in two places and that they might need to do surgery. Noah was on the hospital bed his arm wrapped tightly and Rafael could tell he had been crying.
"Hijo" Rafael whispered his heartbreaking at the sight of the boy in pain.
"You came," Noah exclaimed seeing Rafael. "You had court."
"I will always come when you need me Noah." Rafael told him sitting carefully down on the bed next to him.
"Because you are going to be my Papi?" Noah asked.
"Because I am your Papi." Rafael answered.
The wait for Noah to get out of surgery was the longest Rafael had ever known. He paced back and forth driving Olivia crazy.
"I'm having some kind of papers drawn up until we can get the adoption finalized, I didn't like how that nurse looked at me earlier." He grumbled.
"She was just doing her job Raf, but yes we will get something drawn up." She agreed
Finally after what seemed like an eternity the doctor came in, "He did great, we were able to get the pin in and I think it will heal quickly. The nurse will show you back to where you can wait with him."
They sat next to his bed as the anesthesia slowly wore off and he opened his green eyes and saw them sitting together,
"Mommy and Papi," He whispered with a sleepy smile.
"Mommy and Papi are right here Hijo, you rest. " Rafael told him.
Over the next few months Noah's arm healed well. Rafael officially moved in with Liv and Noah and they began planning their wedding. They got married in the park in early May finalizing Noah's adoption at the same time.
One Sunday in June Rafael awoke to an empty bed and the sounds of whispered laughter coming from the kitchen. He pulled on a pair of shorts and t-shirt and went to join his family. He found Liv and Noah placing breakfast on the table.
"Good Morning." He greeted them.
"Happy Papi's Day!" Noah exclaimed holding up a picture he had drawn.
Rafael took the drawing and smiled looking at the five year old's best artwork and handwriting where he had drawn a picture of the three of them and labeled each one, Mommy, Papi, and Noah Benson Barba.
The End
