Eventually, Lucia and Olivia managed to convince Rafael to leave for the night. Mia's sobs had eventually calmed thanks to comfort and reassurance from all three of the adults. By the time visiting hours were over she seemed to be in reasonably good spirits, although it did cross Olivia's mind that she may have been pink-clouding. She made sure to mention it to the nurses on the desk on the way out and they said they'd keep a close eye on her.

"I wish she'd let me stay," Rafael said as he, his mother and Olivia rode the elevator to the ground floor.

Lucia shook her head. "Mijo, she'll be fine. She's in good hands with the nurses… who have assured you they will call if they need you."

"Your mother's right," Olivia agreed. After her conversation with the nurses, she was confident Mia would be well cared for. "Besides, with the trauma her body has been through and the painkillers she's on, she'll probably sleep right through the night with little problem."

The evening air was oppressive, heavy with warmth and humidity as the three of them exited the hospital onto the main street. Lucia quickly flagged down a taxi. Opening the rear door, she threw her purse onto the seat, before turning back to Rafael. "Go home, mijo. Eat, sleep and I'll meet you back here in the morning, bien?"

Rafael kissed her cheek. "Bien Mami. Te veré mañana."

"Goodbye, Olivia,"

She gave Lucia a small wave. "Bye."

Rafael closed the taxi door and tapped the roof twice, sighing as it pulled away. He loved his mother, but she could be a bit much at times.

Olivia took Rafael's hand and tugged him towards to the parking lot.

"You don't have to drive me home, Liv. I can Uber. You should get back to Noah."

She stopped, turning to face him. "I am not sending you back to an empty apartment. Rafa. Not until you've at least had a decent meal."

"Liv…"

She fixed him with a hard stare, daring him to argue.

"Yeah, okay," he conceded, running a hand through his hair. "Food sounds good, and I need to talk to you anyway."

When they arrived at Olivia's apartment, Noah was ecstatic to see his uncle Rafa and soon co-opted him into a game of 'cops and robbers' with Eddie the Elephant as the prey. His crime this time; eating all the cookies. While the two boys played, Olivia went to the bathroom to freshen up. She removed her make-up and changed into sweats, a t-shirt and a fluffy cardigan. Then she made a start on dinner. It was nothing fancy; just tomato and cheese pasta bake and salad. Once the salad was prepared, and the pasta in the oven, it was time for Noah to go to bed.

He wanted Rafael to read him a bedtime story, but Olivia managed to convince her son to let her do it, placating him with the promise of two stories from Uncle Rafa next time he was here for bedtime. They barely got half-way through the story before Noah fell asleep anyway – his later than usual bedtime catching up with him. Olivia turned off the light and tiptoed out of her son's room, closing the door to leave it open just a crack. She padded down the hall to the kitchen, where she found Rafael at the counter plating up their food.

"I figured I should take it out in case it began to burn," he explained.

"Yeah. Probably best. I don't think the neighbours would have appreciated being evacuated because we burnt our dinner." She opened a cupboard above her head. "Wine or scotch?"

"Wine please." If he started on the hard liquor he didn't know if he'd be able to stop – he wanted nothing more than to drink away the pain – but he needed a relatively clear head for the conversation he had to have with Olivia.

Olivia poured two glasses of Cabernet and joined Rafael at the table where he was setting down the plates. Sliding into seats opposite each other, they tucked into their meal. Rafael ate a few bites, before stopping eating, pushing the pasta shells around his plate instead.

"How are you doing?" Olivia asked, reaching across the table to touch his arm.

"I…" he shrugged. "I don't know."

He was still processing what had happened and Olivia could tell he was struggling with it. Tactfully deciding that talking about his own feelings wasn't what he needed right now, she turned her attention to the other questions she had.

"You said Mia might be discharged tomorrow?"

"It's a possibility. If the doctors are happy with how her arm and side are healing."

"Where will she go? You said she had no-one else?"

"Yeah, um, about that…" Rafael placed his fork down on his plate. "When Mia was born, her grandparents – my aunt and uncle – were already in failing health. Then my uncle had a stroke when Mia was 5. When that happened, Maria came to me and asked if I'd take Mia if anything ever happened to her, because her parents just weren't fit enough. Of course, I said yes because all we had was each other, and well… you don't think it's ever going to happen, do you?"

Olivia nodded. She'd suspected Rafael was planning to take custody of her from some of the comments he had made. "So, you're going to take her?"

He lifted his glass and took a sip of his wine. "I have to. If I don't, she ends up in the system and you and I both know how that goes."

Olivia understood completely. When you'd worked SVU for as long as they had, you'd seen the realities of foster care. If Mia went into the system, there was no telling what would happen to her, even with regular contact with Rafael and Lucia.

"I know I probably should have mentioned this sooner," Rafael continued, a contrite look on his face. "But with the shock of what happened, I'd forgotten we ever had that conversation. It was only when a caseworker from ACS arrived at the hospital this afternoon that it even occurred to me."

"It's okay, Rafa. You don't have to explain yourself." Her death had been a shock, it was understandable that his mind had been all over the place.

He sighed. "Except that I do. You and I… we're… at least I thought we…" he trailed off, unable to find the words in his clouded brain.

Luckily, Olivia understood what he was trying to say. Over the past few months, their friendship had been evolving; they'd grown closer and were on the brink of crossing the threshold to something more. No promises or declarations had been made but it was obvious to both of them where their relationship was headed.

Putting her cutlery down, she lay her hand on his and gave him a warm smile. "We are," she whispered.

Rafael turned his hand under hers and interlaced their fingers. "Liv… my life is about to be turned upside down. I can't ask you to…" He dropped his gaze to where their hands were curled around each other and pressed his lips together as he tried to rein in his emotions. This was harder than he thought it would be, but it needed to be said. "What I'm trying to say is, if you want to walk away now, before… well, I wouldn't blame you."

"Rafa, no!"

"Liv, I'm just trying to be realistic."

"You're being an idiot." She shook her head at him. "It's no different to me having Noah."

"I knew you and Noah were a package deal, before Liv. This is… you didn't sign up for this." The last thing he wanted was for her to feel obliged and then come to resent him or Mia somewhere down the line.

Olivia rolled her eyes. Did he really think that the change in his situation would change how she felt about him? She picked up her fork and pointed it at him. "Rafael Barba, you listen to me and you listen good! You taking custody of Mia makes no difference to my feelings for you or what I want from us in the future okay?" A small smile curved her lips. "Yes, it might make things a little more complicated than before, but so what? I think it'll be worth it."

He considered her words. She was right, it would be worth it. They made a formidable team at work and were best friends. A romantic relationship could be amazing. They could be great together. They would be great together. The two of them, Noah and Mia.

"I think it'll be worth it too."

"Good. So, we'll have no more of this 'walking away' nonsense. Okay?" she asked, standing and clearing their plates. She placed them in the sink; they could wait until the morning. Right now, Rafael was her priority. She'd fed him and now he needed to rest. Turning back, she found him leaning against the archway to her kitchen.

"I'm sorry, Liv. I didn't want to end things before they'd even started, I just-

She silenced him with a finger to his lips. "I know." He was trying to be noble and, while she appreciated the gesture, it was completely unnecessary. She wanted to be with him and whatever hurdles came their way, they would negotiate them together.

Olivia took his hand and led him to her bedroom. This hadn't exactly been part of her plan when she had brought him home. She'd planned to nag him into staying on her sofa bed. But that didn't seem right now, given the conversation they'd just had.

"Liv…" He stopped still when he realised where she was taking him. He wasn't sure sleeping in her bed was appropriate – shouldn't he take her out first, wine and dine her?

"It's just to sleep Rafa. Relax. I'm not going to jump you. I'm far too tired tonight to contemplate anything other than sleep. And I suspect you're the same. You can't have gotten much sleep this afternoon?"

"About an hour. Maybe two," he admitted sheepishly.

"Thought so." She tugged on his hand again. "Come on."

He allowed her to pull him down the hall toward her room. The bed looked so inviting that his back actually twinged with anticipation.

Olivia drew him with her to the bed. She tossed her cardigan on the bench at the foot of the bed and sank contentedly into the mattress. When Rafael seemed to hesitate, she threw him an irritated look. "How old are you?"

He rolled his eyes at her, but he climbed in beside her, jeans and all. He let out a sigh; it felt too good and his eyes were already heavy. Rafael curled an arm behind his head and let them drift closed when she turned out the light. What he wouldn't let himself do was think about the fact that he was lying in bed with a woman he had been fantasising about getting into bed for a couple of years now. It helped that he was too tired to really give it more than a passing thought.

He was just beginning to drift off again when he felt the bed shift beside him. He jerked awake and looked down when she curled up beside him, her head resting against his shoulder. She wrapped an arm around his waist and burrowed under his arm. He wanted to smirk. Instead, he just arched a brow at her. "How old are you?" he parroted back at her.

"Oh, be quiet," she retorted. "It's just a cuddle. Unless of course, you don't want to…" She made to roll away from him, but he moved the arm that was behind his head to pull her back to him. As he did so, she sighed happily. Being held by him was wonderful and if it was only a precursor of things to come, she saw no reason to not enjoy it while the opportunity presented itself.

His hand settled on her hip and he tucked her against his side. When her leg curled around his, he smirked. "Just a cuddle, eh?"

She didn't respond, just cuddled in closer and Rafael tightened his hold. They were asleep in minutes, wrapped in each other's arms.