Olivia looks down at her watch- it's only 3:00 but she doesn't want to go back to the office. Bayard's assurances that they've done the right thing fall on deaf ears. She decides to walk up and see if Barba's in his office.
She finds him there- getting dressed for an arraignment hearing. She flops down in the chair in front of his desk as he buttons his collar. "I think I may have just helped a guilty man get out of prison."
Barba gives her a sympathetic look but his tone is more demanding, "You think?" He holds up two ties that he's pulled from his drawer.
"Which judge?" Olivia asks, without skipping a beat.
"Jackson."
Olivia points to the more conservative tie. Barba puts the other one back in the drawer and pops his collar to put on the one she suggested. He watches as she fiddles with her phone, "You know you can't ever know for sure."
"Could he seriously have raped his own daughter and then used her to get himself out of prison?"
Barba sighs heavily. "Look, I've just got an arraignment. Shouldn't take more than 45. Dinner after?"
Olivia shakes her head and stands up. "No, it's OK. I'll let you go. Think I'm going to head home."
"I could bring dinner to you." Shit, that was forward. They ate dinner together all the time- sure. But always with the pretense of discussing a case.
A small smiles makes it's way to Olivia's face. "Sure."
Barba pulls on his jacket and grabs his briefcase. "Alright, I'll let you know when I'm on my way", He says stepping out the door behind her on the way to the elevator.
Barba steps into Olivia's apartment carrying two grocery bags. Olivia looks at him a bit surprised, "Groceries?"
Barba shrugs- "I'm tired of take out. Figured I'd cook since we're both off early for once. That OK?"
Olivia nods and smiles as she takes one of the bags from him and walks with him to the kitchen. "You are full of surprises, Counselor."
Noah sits playing quietly in the living room floor. After depositing the groceries in the kitchen- Barba moves to the living room to shed his jacket. Noah toddles up to him to show him a toy police car. Barba stoops down to be on his level, "Qué tienes?"
Noah flies the car through the air and makes a loud noise that Barba supposes is what he thinks a siren sounds like. He looks up at Barba with a big grin, "Mommy car."
Barba chuckles, "It is Mamí's car, you clever little thing." He looks up and smiles at Olivia – who realizes she's been caught staring at the interaction.
She loves that Barba and Noah have finally taken to each other. She'd come to love having Barba's company. After particularly stressful days having someone to talk to was imperative. He was the only person she could trust to really be honest with her. And not having to choose between time with Barba and time with Noah made things so much easier.
Olivia smiles back at Barba, "I think you've made a friend." Noah goes back to playing and Barba walks into the kitchen, tucking in his tie to start unloading groceries.
He pulls out a bottle of wine and hands it to Liv, "It's not a Cab- but I think you'll like it." She smiles and grabs the bottle opener to open it. As Barba unloads groceries, he notices her coffee maker shoved into a corner- the pot has been smashed. "What happened to your coffee maker?"
"Your friend in there apparently pulled it off the counter while I was at work. Every time I think I can't possible baby proof anything else- he proves me wrong." He chuckles at her. "Can you watch him for just a sec?" Barba tenses but nods- he still can't quite get used to the idea that she trusts him with Noah. "It's easy- just make sure he doesn't kill himself."
Olivia walks to the back. Barba watches her go then pulls a small candy out of his pocket- he holds it up and then whispers conspiratorially, "Noah". The toddler looks up and his eyes light up. He jumps up and runs around the corner into the kitchen. But as soon as he crosses the threshold- he trips, careening face first into the sharp block he's holding in his hand. Noah immediately starts crying.
"Shit!" Barba grabs him instantly. He cradles Noah against his chest as the little boy wails. "Shhh, esta bien, compay." Barba rubs his back in an attempt to soothe him. The sounds of his cries are making Barba's stomach churn. He looks down to inspect the injury to see blood blooming onto his light blue shirt. Barba panics, "Liv! Liv!"
Olivia rounds the corner to see Barba holding Noah tight to his chest with the most pained expression she thinks she's ever seen. He looks up in panic, "I think he needs stitches."
Confident that he's overreacting- Olivia does her best to calm them both down. "It's OK Barba- set him down on the counter and lets take a look." She can't blame Barba for the first 6 months- if Noah so much as coughed, she'd nearly rushed him to the ER. It took practice to know what to worry about.
Barba reluctantly sets Noah down and pulls away from him. Noah keeps his tiny hand clutched around one of Barba's suspenders. He's calming down but still crying- above his right eye is a small gash where a bruise is already forming. Barba continues to rub his back gently, "Oh God, I'm so sorry buddy."
Olivia grabs a small cloth and presses it against Noah's forehead- causing him to let out another wail. She can see that it's just a small cut- she speaks to Noah in a soft sweet voice but she's really talking to Barba. "See it's just a small cut, we can fix it up right here."
Barba's not convinced, "Are you sure? That's a lot of blood."
"Heads always bleed a lot. Trust me." She turns to him and realizes she needs to give him something to do before he crawls out of his skin. "There's a first aid kit in the bathroom under the sink."
Barba is down the hall and back in a flash. Olivia has managed to slow the bleeding. Barba opens the first aid kit and presents her with the contents. She grabs an alcohol swab and looks at Barba, "I need your help to hold him still." Barba seems to almost be in shock. He nods and places a hand on Noah's shoulder. "This will probably make him scream a bit. You ready?" Barba nods again and braces himself.
The swab does indeed make Noah scream. Barba closes his eyes and worries his lip. Olivia makes quick work of it and follows up with Neosporin- which she immediately covers with a butterfly bandaid. Once she's done- she does her best to calm them both again. She picks Noah up and pats his back and he starts to wind down, "See all good."
Barba looks down at the candy that started all this- he'd discarded it on the floor in his haste to scoop up Noah. He reaches down- picks it up, unwraps it and offers it to Noah. Noah grins through his tears and takes the candy. Olivia looks at Barba with faux disapproval, "Oh I see your Raf was trying to bribe you."
Noah giggles, "Raf!"
Olivia looks over at Barba's blood soaked shoulder. "Sorry about your shirt." Barba waves her off and turns back to his groceries. "Pull it off- if we get it in the wash right now, I might be able to get it out."
Olivia disappears to the back with Noah to find Barba another shirt. When she returns, she finds him struggling with his cufflinks, his dress shirt unbuttoned, suspenders by his sides. She considers for a fleeting moment that he's almost more attractive in his current disheveled state than when he's all put together. She doesn't let the thought linger though. That's dangerous territory.
Olivia puts Noah down and steps up to help him with the cufflink. Her action brings his eyes to her- frustration evident on his face- she knows it's not about the cufflink though, "He's OK." She looks over to the living room where Noah's resumed playing with his blocks. "See, like it never happened." Barba sighs and lets her help.
Olivia can't decide whether it's his concern for her son, the smell of his aftershave or their sudden close proximity but Olivia feels the usual energy between them seems heightened. It's alarming.
As soon as his sleeve falls open, she takes a step back to give him space. He removes both his shirts and hands them to her- she hands him back a grey NYPD shirt. "Should fit. It was Brian's." She turns to take his shirts to the laundry before she can see antipathy play ever so briefly over Barba's face.
He catches himself and pulls on the shirt- which is a bit to large. What was that jealousy? He shouldn't think of her like that and he knows it. Barba'd been attracted to Olivia the moment he met her but they worked together- no sense in making things complicated. It didn't take long though for his initial attraction to turn into full on caring for her- even before William Lewis. But she'd been with Cassidy. And after he wasn't willing to give up what had become his only real friendship if she didn't feel the same way. He'd resolved to be content with what they had- and he was- anything else would just complicate things. He told himself it was just a schoolboy crush and pushed any feelings he had for her other than friendship to the side. He needed to get himself under control before he did something he regretted.
He pours them both a glass of wine and goes back to cooking.
After dinner, Oliva and Barba sit at the counter watching Noah play and finishing their wine. Olivia looks at him gratefully. "That was incredible."
He smiles- his eyes still on Noah. "My abuelita's Masa de Puerco."
"She taught you well", she says as she stands to take their plates into the kitchen. Barba stands and reaches over to the sink- grabbing a washcloth to wipe off Noah's highchair. As he finishes, Noah makes his way over to him carrying a large story book. He stands at Barba's feet and holds it up to him. Olivia smiles over at Barba- waiting to see how he'll react. "Looks like you've got bedtime story duty."
Barba grateful that all has been forgiven- tosses the washcloth into the sink and scoops Noah up. He carries Noah over to the couch and sits with him on his lap. Noah immediately snuggles into Barba's chest. He opens the book and begins reading in a soft hushed tone.
Olivia watches from the kitchen as she finishes washing the dishes. She finally admits something to herself that she's been ignoring for nearly two years. She loves Rafael Barba. He'd gone from being the asshole she had to put up with- to her partner in every aspect of her life over the course of three years. She was in love with his passion, his honesty, his sass. The way he'd come to care about Noah was the final nail in the coffin. This was trouble and she knew it. She'd been through this before- being in love with her best friend. This doesn't end well, she reminds herself. Besides if Barba wanted the same thing- he'd have made his move by now. He was a guy who went after what he wanted. She puts the thought out of her head. This is ridiculous- she can't think of Barba like that.
Olivia finishes the dishes and pours some milk into a sippy cup. She walks over to the couch and sits down beside Barba- handing Noah his milk. As he drinks it, his eyes start to drift shut. Olivia smiles and pats his head. She looks to Barba, "You're not so bad at this, you know."
Barba continues reading but cuts his eyes down to the gash on Noah's forehead and then back to Olivia 'Yeah, right'.
She chuckles. By the end of the book, Noah's fast asleep. Barba stands and transfers him to his Mom. He leans in and plants a kiss in the boy's hair, "Dulces sueños, amigo." He steps back to put space between he and Olivia. "I should head home."
A somber look passes briefly over Olivia's face before she gives him a small smile. "K. Thanks for dinner."
He grabs his jacket and walks him to the door. "Can you just bring my shirts to the office Monday?"
She nods and lets him out- locking the door behind him.
Sunday rolls around and it's Mother's Day. By 10 am, Olivia is ready for a nap. Noah had woken up in rare form, seemingly determined to destroy everything. The majority of his breakfast had ended up either on her or the floor, he's managed to pull out every toy they own and had even managed to slam his own finger in one of the cabinet doors in the kitchen.
She's dealing with the latter crisis when her doorbell rings. She briefly considers not answering but she places her now calmed son on the floor and makes her way to the door. Olivia's surprised to find a messenger with a rather large gift on the other side. She signs for it and brings it into the living room.
She opens the small card on top- it reads: 'Sorry, I broke your other one. This one's way better anyway. Happy Mother's Day. Love, Noah.'
She chuckles and looks over at Noah, "Your Uncle Nick is-" She stops and realizes she hasn't told Nick about the coffee maker. With Noah's help she rips open the gift wrapping to reveal one of the nicest coffee makers on the market. "Noah, we can make coffee! I'm going to be such a nicer person after this!" Noah giggles and begins ripping the gift wrap into tiny little pieces.
Olivia finds her phone and texts Barba, 'You're in trouble. This coffee maker is way too nice.'
Barba's walking out of Mass with his mom when he gets her text. He smiles broadly and writes back, 'Don't know what you're talking about'
His mother looks over at him, "Sargent Benson, I assume?" Barba looks up from his text a bit perplexed. "Rafi, you're not fooling me. You only smile like that when you're talking to one person. Why don't you invite her to lunch with us?"
Barba turns serious- if it was that obvious to his mother, would Liv notice too? He had to get his feelings in check.
He furrows his brow at his mother, "We work together, Mamí."
She nods at him, letting it go. If Lucia Barba knows anything it's that her stubborn son has to come to decisions on his own terms.
His phone dings with another text from Olivia. 'Well thank you for the thing you know nothing about. You just saved what was destined to be rough day. And you may have saved Noah from being shipped off to boarding school ;-)'
He chuckles and returns, 'You can't send him away now, I just won him over Glad you like it. Happy Mother's Day. See you Monday.'
Barba slides his phone into his pocket and walks his mom to Mother's Day Brunch.