Tuesday (Christmas Day)
"It's still coming down out there," Olivia commented, as she looked out of the window, watching the snow fall through the darkness. While not as intense as the blizzard of the other day, it had been falling steadily for most of the day. A white Christmas.
And what a Christmas it had been. Olivia honestly didn't think it could have been more perfect. She had woken up in the arms of the man she loved and spent Christmas Day in their new house. Lucia had joined them for lunch, before announcing she was spending the evening with her new boyfriend, Richard.
At this news, Rafael had cross-examined his mother as if she was a defendant on the witness stand. To her credit, and her son's surprise and slight irritation, she held up well, answering what she wanted to and seamlessly deflecting what she didn't. It was Noah who finally brought an end to the interrogation, tempting Rafael away to assemble his new Lego Jedi Star Fighter.
The Star Fighter had been Noah's main present, but he had received lots of other gifts too. He had been well and truly spoilt. There had been several other toys, new clothes, DVDs, books and crayons as well as his own weight in chocolate and candy. But his favourite present by far had been the new sneakers that Lucia had bought him. He hadn't taken them off all day.
"Can we watch Harry Potter now?" Noah asked. The DVD box set had been a present from Don and Eileen and Noah had been dying to watch it all day.
Olivia let the curtain drop and turned around. "Okay. I'll go and get us some drinks and then we can all snuggle up and watch together, that sound good?"
"Yeah!" Noah nodded, and Olivia headed for the kitchen, running her hand over Rafael's shoulder's as she passed him sat on the sofa.
With the coast clear, Rafael beckoned Noah over. "Hey, mijo, before we watch, what do you say we give Mami her other present?" he asked, his voice low so they wouldn't be overheard. Noah nodded. "Do you want to go and get it? It's in my bedside drawer. There's another present in there too. Bring them both, please."
Noah ran off through the hall and up the stairs; his sneaker-clad feet pounding on the wooden steps.
Olivia laughed at the sound as she returned from the kitchen, balancing two wine glasses and a juice cup. "He's going to want to wear those to bed, isn't he?" She handed him a glass of wine. "Where's he off to anyway?"
Rafael shrugged and lifted his glass and took a sip of the dark, red liquid. Olivia placed her glass on the coffee table, pulled the DVD Noah had chosen off the shelf. While she was putting the disc in the player, Noah returned and handed the two wrapped gifts to his dad, who quickly hid them behind the photo of his abuelita, which now resided on the end table in a brand-new photo frame. The frame had been a last-minute addition to his Christmas gifts from Noah, who had felt bad that it had got broken because of him.
"Liv?"
She glanced back at him over her shoulder.
"Leave that for a minute will you and come here?" He patted the cushion next to him. She placed the DVD in the machine and obliged him, leaving the menu to play on repeat.
"What's up?" she asked.
"So…" Rafael began, rubbing his palms up and down his thighs. He hadn't expected to feel as nervous as he did. "It seems Santa left something else for you."
He pulled a neatly wrapped present, a box about the size of a Rubik's Cube from off the end table and handed it to her.
"Rafa!" she gently admonished, as she fingered the delicate gold ribbon. "You already bought me enough." There had been a new watch, a cashmere sweater, a replacement bottle of perfume, a leather backed desk diary – with weekly lunches pencilled in for the two of them – and a bottle of her favourite Cabernet under the tree for her that morning, and it was more than she'd expected.
"Just open it," he urged.
She carefully untied the ribbon and lifted the lid off the box. A small gasp escaped her as she took in the contents. In the centre, nestled in red tissue paper, was a small, circular, wooden box engraved with the message, 'Olivia Benson, Say Yule Be Mine'.
Her eyes widened as she took in the words. Ever since that day at the Christmas markets she'd been thinking about it, imagining it. Could it really be happening? With trembling fingers, she lifted the wooden box out of its larger casing and opened it. Upon seeing the vintage style ring, her hand flew to her mouth.
Rafael gently took the hand holding the box in his own. "Liv, I love you and being here, being a family with you and Noah has made me happier than I have ever been, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life." He slid to the floor on one knee. "Will you marry me?"
"Rafa…" She swiped away the few tears that had escaped as her emotions overwhelmed her and were now slowly rolling down her cheeks.
"Before you answer, I should tell you, this is kind of Noah's Christmas wish, so y'know…" He gave her that half smile, the one that was a unique mix of confidence and nerves. One that he only ever used with her.
Olivia couldn't stop the small peel of laughter that bubbled in her throat. "Oh well in that case…" She joined him on the floor, lifting her free hand to his cheek. "Yes. Yes, of course, I'll marry you. I was always going to say yes," she smiled. "You didn't need the emotional blackmail." She leaned forward and captured his lips in a sweet kiss and Noah cheered.
Pulling back, Rafael reached for the ring and she held out her left hand. He placed the ring at the top of her fourth finger but paused before sliding it on. "This was my abuelita's ring. I know it's not exactly the latest fashion, so I'll buy you a new one if you want but-"
"Don't even think about it," Olivia warned.
Rafael laughed, and finally slid the ring onto her finger, before pulling her in for another kiss.
Noah, who had bouncing up and down, launched himself at the pair of them, wrapping an arm around each of their necks. "What about the other gift, Dad?"
"Oh, yes." He picked up the second package, wrapped in snowman paper, and read the tag. "Oh," he feigned surprise, "it seems this one's for you." He held it out to him.
Noah tore off the paper to reveal a manila envelope. His brow furrowed, but he opened the flap, sliding out some papers. They contained a lot of writing which Noah didn't really understand, but he sounded out the words in bold print at the top.
"Petition for Adoption," he read. His eyes scanned the page and he spotted a few familiar words. "Hey, that's my name." He looked up at Rafael.
"It is." He pulled Noah into his side. "If your mom and I sign these papers, it means that I become your Dad, officially and you'll be Noah Porter Barba."
Noah's eyes widened, and he looked from Rafael to the papers and then to Olivia. "Santa did it! He brought what I asked for!"
Rafael looked over at Olivia. "I know I should probably have talked to you about this before but-"
Olivia quietened him with a finger to his lips. "No, this… this is perfect." Once, she may have been annoyed with him for being so presumptuous, but he was already Noah's father in every way but legally. She knew they were heading towards this, and Olivia found she didn't mind one bit that he'd taken it upon himself to arrange this. She reached for the gold pen she had bought Rafael for Christmas to replace the one that had been lost back in February when he'd packed up his office at 1 Hogan Place. Taking it out of its box she handed it to him. "Seems fitting that this is the first thing you sign with it."
He took the pen from her and spread the forms out on the coffee table. His hand hovered over the papers. "You sure?" he asked Olivia.
"I've never been surer of anything."
"Noah? What about you? Is this still what you want?"
He nodded. "Yes. Please, Dad."
With a flourish of the pen, Rafael signed the form in all the required places. He passed the pen over to Olivia. Their fingers brushed as she took it from him. A few moments later the form was complete. Their journey to becoming 'The Barbas' was underway.
She secured the lid on the pen and placed it back in its box and joined Rafael and Noah, who had returned to the couch. Rafael lifted his arm and Olivia snuggled into his side. As Noah pressed play, Olivia realised she had been wrong before, their first Christmas together could be be more perfect. And it had been. She couldn't wait to see what next year would bring.