A/N: Hey guys, you think with me practically being at home every second of the day would find me more time, but with my husband being home every second of the day too, its hard to concentrate on writing/ editing. I will say I have written the first very short chapter of the sequel. I am working on some other stuff too but really right now my muse has left me at the moment if I am being honest and I have no idea how long it will be before I start to push that one through, I tend to do best by writing more than 50% of the story before starting on here, if not I tend to abandon it so… I will try my best to get it up soon.
Lucia arrived at Bob Hope Airport on the morning of the 22nd Raphael went to pick her up while Olivia and Noah enjoyed sleeping in. When Raphael returned with Lucia in tow, Olivia had made a large spread of lunch items and they happily caught Lucia up on the last 6 days Noah telling her all kinds of exciting adventures including his time at Santa Monica Pier and his wonderful time at Disney. Noah was talking 100 miles a minute but Lucia enjoyed it more than the beachfront property itself.
Lucia agreed to stay with Noah, while Raphael and Olivia did some Christmas shopping, knowing there were 1000's of places to chose from. They stopped at Nordstrom's, for a few more outfits and things he could use while they were there. They stopped at a dollar store to get more sand castle molds, agreeing they would stay at the beach house for everyone else to use. They had gone to a Lego store and bout a few small sets for him to do. They went to the Disney store after finding out he was intrigued with pin collecting and got him some so he could trade when they went back. The bags added up and Olivia wasn't sure where all this was going in the suitcase home.
"We can mail it back, Liv." Raphael stated as he noticed her eyeing all the contents in their hands.
Olivia nodded her head.
"Thanks for all this Rafa, this has been really nice." Olivia stated.
"I was just thinking the same thing, this has been a great trip, and we still have seven more days." Raphael mentioned.
"It will go by quickly," Olivia pointed out.
"It will," Raphael agreed.
Olivia and Raphael made it back in time to see Lucia busy in the kitchen.
"Mami, there is no need for you to make dinner; this is your vacation too!" Raphael said quickly.
"Non-since, the only reason I'm out here is that I wouldn't miss the first Christmas with Noah for the world. Besides, you had everything in the fridge all ready for me to make fufu, and it's simple and easy."
"What ever you say, mom." Raphael sighed.
Olivia couldn't help but smile at the interaction between the two of them. At times like these, it made Olivia miss her mom. She loathed her mom when she was younger. She never understood her mom's alcoholism, her violent outbursts; she still didn't get it entirely. She knew now though how difficult it was to be a mom, a single mom, and try to hold it all together. She was lucky she had so many beautiful friends. She was fortunate that Raphael Barba made her a not so single parent, and she was genuinely grateful that she didn't turn out like her mother, but that didn't make the sting of Lucia and Raphael's interaction hurt any less.
She had to admit she was a bit jealous of the two. It seemed like they had a healthy normal relationship, but she knew that it hadn't always been that way. She knew that Raphael's father was a drunk and that domestic violence was an issue in the home. Raphael had admitted he hated the man that, for so many years, he had to call his father, but even with the hate, Raphael's father was his inspiration to get out. Olivia didn't even meet the man, but she had so many emotions about him. She loved that Raphael made himself who he was. She hated why he felt he had to do it. She wondered if Raphael would still have gone to Harvard if his father hadn't been a drunk. Olivia doesn't think SVU would play a part in her life if her mom hadn't drunk herself to death. Noah snapped her out of her thoughts when he had come to sit with her on the couch, curling up next to her. He seemed exhausted, and Olivia wrapped her arms around him tight, allowing the 7-year-old to fall asleep in her arms, she didn't know how many more times this would happen, and she was going to let the boy to lay on her forever if he would allow it. She knew though that he was growing up too fast for her liking and was content for this moment in time.
Lucia and Raphael had joined her in the living room Raphael smiling at the little boy and his mother. Raphael wasn't sure what he did in his life to ever deserve the two of them. He never knew how easy it would be to fall in love with the little boy and his mom. If Raphael had to be completely honest with himself, he thought he lost Olivia when Noah came into the picture. He had never been around children and had no clue how to be a dad. He didn't even know if Olivia would want the boy to have a dad considering her biological father was a rapist. Raphael couldn't believe that Olivia Benson trusted him, of all people in the world, to be Noah's dad. Raphael snapped out of his thoughts when his mom asked a question he dreaded.
"Where's your family this Christmas, Olivia?" Lucia asked.
Raphael didn't put Olivia's personal life on display in front of his mother. Of course, she knew about her life now, her career, and knew how Noah came to be, but she didn't know of Olivia's childhood, her lack of family. He could have said something but didn't feel like it was his place.
"Well, the only family I have left is a half brother I haven't seen in years. My mom died a while ago in an accident. My dad was never in the picture," Olivia stated quickly.
Lucia frowned. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring up any past issues."
"It's okay, everything happened a long time ago, I'm used to it." Olivia mentioned.
Raphael hated that she was used to being alone, and he wanted to make sure she never felt that way again. He knew it would take a lot of work, they loved each other, but he knew that even love wasn't always enough. He leaned in closer to Olivia, pushing his body against both her and Noah. He was hoping the gesture would let her know he was there.
Lucia began talking about holiday traditions, memories of Raphael's childhood during Christmas. They were mainly happy memories but a few sad ones like when they couldn't afford the big-ticket item Raphael had been going on months about. Olivia thought back to her childhood memories of Christmas. There had been a few good years when she was younger, but the older she got, the more her mother drank, and the less Christmas felt like Christmas. It wasn't until that first Christmas with Noah that she had felt the Christmas spirit inside herself since she was about 12 years old.
The timer in the kitchen went off indicating dinner was made and woke Noah up in the process. He was confused for only a second when Olivia told him that dinner was ready. The boy's eye's lit up similarly to Raphael's when there was mention of food, and he quickly got off of the couch and walked into the kitchen/ dining area of the home. Olivia smiled at the little boy before getting up and making her way to the kitchen, helping Lucia while Raphael and Noah talked about tomorrow's trip going through downtown LA.
Noah desperately needed a bath he had only rinsed off down at the beach the last few days and Olivia had talked the boy into a warm bubble bath before sleep. Olivia was setting the water as Noah stripped off his clothes, and that's when she saw it. Her stomach dropped as a purple line went across the top part of his butt. She knew he must have hit the same spot on his body, coming down the steps to leave a mark like that.
"Noah I'm so sorry, are you sure your okay after that fall?" Olivia asked.
"It hurts to sit down." Noah mentioned.
Olivia shook her head.
"I know baby. It will get better soon." Olivia stated.
Olivia felt bad that Noah was in any type of pain. If she hadn't known any better, the mark looked like a skinny belt that someone had hit him with. This quickly made her think about multiple cases and wondering if any of the excuses both child and parent had made were now true. She knew she shouldn't go down the rabbit hole, but she was. She wanted nothing more at that moment to fly home, look through all the cases of the last 18 years, and see if they got something wrong. She sighed, knowing it would do no good at all, but her brain was remembering a couple of cases in particular, and she knew that sleep tonight would elude her.
Olivia Lucia and Raphael discussed the plans for the following day. Lucia had been there before but was excited to be able to point out the Staples Center and take him up to the Oue Skyspace. Olivia was so happy that everyone seemed to want to make Noah happy. She told the other adults of the bruising to her little boy's body, and Raphael looked equally as hurt when finding out about it. Lucia headed to bed early, not used to the time difference yet, and already having a long day of the flight.
Olivia and Raphael headed to bed, Raphael was snuggling up to her and holding her tighter than normal. Olivia knew it was a combination of events that had occurred to make him feel a little less confident than normal and needed to reassure Olivia he was there, and in return, know she was with him as well. Olivia let the man hold her tightly, she couldn't say it was the most comfortable thing, but there was something about leaning into him that made her feel safe, and she wasn't going to object if that's what he needed that night. She still had a lot on her mind, so she fell into a fit full sleep-waking from several odd dreams, she couldn't quite remember. Raphael was still holding her, although not as tightly, and she pulled away slightly before finally falling asleep peacefully.
December 23rd came and went with views of LA being seen by the group of four, food being eaten from various food vendors on the streets, that were 1000 times better than Olivia had ever had in New York. The warm weather didn't make it feel like Christmas, but the lights and Christmas music, along with the rest of the traditions, seemed to make it feel a little more like the holidays. The city traffic wasn't as dense in New York but slowed all the same, giving the time for Olivia, Noah, and Lucia to eye the sites as Raphael drove through the town. They stopped along various spots ending up the Oue Skyspace Noah was excited to go down the glass slide. Olivia went with the little boy sliding through the tunnel. Raphael and Lucia met them at the end, and they went to Korea town for dinner. Olivia wasn't so sure Noah would eat something in the Korean Barbecue establishment . Still, Raphael so easily explained in kid-friendly terms what everything was, and the boy happily ate along with the adults. They got back to the home with the sun already setting, and Christmas Eve upon them.
Olivia it looked at the Christmas tree that somehow seemed homey even though it wasn't personalized. It had various colored bulbs and white lights and a silver star on top. There had been a few wrapped presents under the tree. Nothing large, as they all had to take it back but, it was nice to see the gifts all, but one she knew was for Noah, the other was for Lucia and was something Raphael had found while shopping for Noah. She had to wrap Raphael's gift, of noise-canceling headphones he had mentioned a time or two, because of all the hallway traffic by his paper-thin door and walls at his desk. He had claimed it was difficult to concentrate when he could hear all the conversations held by students in the general range of his desk. This past semester he had heard 3 breaks ups, what he thought was a drug deal, but couldn't prove. He heard multiple conversations about assignments of his and other professors, both good and bad. Sometimes it was funny, but most of the time, it was annoying so Olivia hoped they would help.
Olivia had told Raphael not to get her anything. He had asked a million times what she had wanted, and she had avoided the conversation multiple times. He would catch starting off on another subject. She would tell him the trip was enough. Raphael would huff at her but she never budged and she was curious if he had given up and let it go or if a package would be waiting come Christmas morning. She wouldn't be upset if there wasn't one, but she was curious what he would think of if he did get her something.
Noah was tired after a long day in but obviously not sleepy. He was talking to Lucia as if she hadn't been there every second of his time. Lucia just took it all in stride. Olivia was happy that Noah had her in his life. She never thought of Noah gaining a grandmother. It was something she never grew up with her, mother's mother died in a car crash when Olivia was 3, she had no memories of the woman.
Olivia thought about here and now, and she was amazed that this was how her life was now, it felt overwhelming, but in a good way. She felt as though she has more people, she could count on now than at any time in her life. She wasn't able to lean quite yet, but she knew if she needed too, she could. She appreciated her staff so much and wished that Fin, Amanda, and Sonny where all here as well. Even if they were back home, she doubted she would see any of them on Christmas, but she had missed the Christmas Party this year, and she was longing for the tradition she had come to loathe in the past.
Raphael sat next to Olivia, handing her a mug of hot chocolate, she noticed that Lucia and Noah had ones too. Raphael put some milk in it to cool it down, and they were all easily sipping it as they turned on the TV and found Christmas Classics on TV.
Christmas Eve was now upon the family that Olivia found herself in, and this is the first time she had ever thought about Christmas with a family. She couldn't help but let a few happy tears fall, as Noah jumped into her and Raphael's bed screaming, "It's Christmas Eve! Santa's all most here!"
Olivia laughed as the boy jumped, and Raphael couldn't help but smirk at the little boy's enthusiasm. Noah squished between his parents and was talking all about how exciting it was to be at the beach on Christmas. Olivia smiled that Noah realized how special this Christmas was. He was going on and on about what he thinks the next few days will be like, and Olivia was so happy that she and Raphael could make him so elated.
Lucia was already in the kitchen with coffee being made. Raphael grabbed the coffee as if it was his life force, greedily drinking a cup in a few chugs and refilling his cup.
Olivia took a sip knowing it was Cuban roast the only kind that Lucia would make. Lucia looked between the two amused at the different ways they were acting. Noah was asking what they were going to do that day. Raphael and Olivia had agreed the furthest they were going to go is down to the beach. Their plan was not to leave until they had to take Lucia to the airport on the morning of the 26th. Noah claims he wants to build the biggest sandcastle ever. Olivia and Raphael know that the sandcastle kit is under the tree and allow Noah to open 1 present early on Christmas Eve. Noah was excited to see all of the molds and quickly runs up the steps to get dressed to go outside. Olivia insists that Noah wears a heavy jacket because of the wind. Noah doesn't disagree. Olivia, Noah, Lucia, and Raphael all make their way down to the beach, a few homeowners are out, but it's the least amount of people they have seen all week. Noah starts to stake out a piece of land on the beach to build the perfect castle. He insists on using all the molds and they all build a big sandcastle. Noah is quite excited by the size of it, He gets upset when both his parents warn him if it gets any higher it will come crashing down. Noah walks all around it and admires it until it's lunchtime.
Noah asks about the Santa tracker and it shows him in a country Noah had never heard of.
"He will get here when it's dark." Olivia reminded Noah.
Noah nodded his head and they ate sandwiches. Lucia told a few stories of when Raphael was little and getting things from Santa for Christmas. Raphael blushed when Lucia mentioned that when he turned 8 he wanted an Easy Bake Oven, so he could bake just like his Abula.
"That's so sweet Rafa." Olivia smiled.
Noah wanted to watch Frosty, something they hadn't seen come on TV yet, and they didn't have but lucky for them it would be on later that night and they passed the afternoon playing board games kept at the house.
After dinner the sun was setting and Noah was worried that if he didn't get sleep soon Santa wouldn't come. Olivia didn't want him to go to bed too early and wake them up at 4am so she explained that Santa didn't come until the middle of the night. Noah still seemed a little nervous but shook his head and they stayed up watching Frosty and Frosty returns as well as some other Christmas cartoons.
When Noah went to bed the adults chatted about his gifts, and how wonderful it was to be on vacation during the Holidays. Lucia informed Raphael she actually needed to get a few work things done online she had been neglecting and Raphael knew better than to stop her. He also had been sending emails, and checking in on things just had Olivia, none of them truly ever being able to keep away from the office even if they were on the other side of the country.
Raphael and Olivia put out the presents from Santa and had a glass of wine. Cookies weren't mentioned and therefore not made. Olivia thought for sure Christmas wouldn't feel the same out on the beach and it didn't it felt even better than she expected.
Raphael and Olivia head to bed early, exhausted from all the running around this was the first night they could really catch up on sleep, the two head to bed early knowing Noah will be up at first light anyways.
Christmas came too soon for Olivia and Raphael as the Alarm clock readout 6:07 am. "Santa came, Santa came!" Noah yelled out.
"Mmmhhh"Raphael responded and Olivia laughed.
"Yeah, he did. Give us a few minutes, and we'll head downstairs." Olivia claimed.
Olivia and Raphael came down the steps together Lucia had already been dressed and ready for the morning the pot of coffee already close to the halfway mark.
Raphael shook his head.
"How long have you been up?" Raphael asked.
"5am, I've gotten used to the time difference the day before going back." Lucia muttered.
Raphael laughed and poured himself a large cup of coffee, Olivia decided to forgo the drink walking into the living room with Noah, who was pointing out all the gifts that weren't under the tree the night before.
Olivia Lucia and Raphael all watched as Noah opened his Christmas presents one by one excited for whatever it was he received. He loved his legos but he also had joy opening a spiderman t-shirt they found as well as a new pair of swim trunks. Noah was excited when Olivia told him that he had a big lego set waiting at home too big to bring with them. When he opened the gift from Lucia, Olivia sighed, it was ticketed for a musical Noah had been going on about, Olivia wasn't even sure what it was, and kept forgetting to look it up, but Lucia ensured her it was kid-friendly and had 3 tickets 4 rows back.
Olivia was happy Noah was happy, and he climbed and snuggled with both Raphael and Olivia asking for help putting one of the lego sets together.
Olivia and Raphael helped Noah, before opening gifts from each other, Olivia was mad he had actually gotten her something, but he insisted it wasn't a big deal. She waited for him to open his box, and he was quite delighted and didn't even remember bringing up the conversation of the want but was thankful none the less and explained how much easier it would be to concentrate.
Olivia opened a shirt box it was light and she was expecting to find a sweater or maybe some type of scarf, but they were legal documents and at first, she was confused until she began reading the paper, it officially made her a leasee , and now Raphael's apartment was now her apartment too, officially.
She smiled at him and hugged him.
"I can't believe we're doing this." Olivia smiled.
"I can't wait." Raphael claimed.
Olivia kissed him lightly and help on to him, grinning ear to ear, this was it they were finally moving into together. Of course, it had been discussed for a while but Olivia wasn't sure that Raphael was actually going to put her name on the document. She was one step ahead in her mind of all the things that needed to be backed, sold or put in storage.
The rest of Christmas had the family playing games, going out to the beach and cooking a beef roast for Christmas dinner. They could all feel the time drawling close Lucia was leaving and although they would be staying for 3 more days it reminded them of how quickly time went buy when they were enjoying theirselves.
Noah refused to go to sleep that night and Lucia had assured him they would see each other in a few days but he wasn't having it. Lucia told him she was going to bed and closed the door.
"Of all days Noah, it's Christmas, it's late and we have to get Lucia to the airport bright and early." Olivia claimed.
"I don't want her to go!" Noah screamed loudly.
"I know you don't, Noah, but we will see her soon." Olivia explained.
"NO!" Noah screamed.
"Noah, I don't even know what you're saying no to." Olivia explained.
"I don't want her to go!" Noah cried.
Noah was having a meltdown, and Raphael and Olivia both felt bad. They knew it was a combination of him genuinely going to miss her and lack of sleep, as well as all the excitement the last few days brought, he was all over the place, and Raphael tried his hand next.
"Hey Noah, we will see her soon, and we're taking her to the airport, you can say goodbye, and we can go to her house for New Years, okay?" Raphael asked.
Noah was still crying it was approaching midnight, and he crawled into Olivia's lap on the couch.
"Come, on let's get some sleep." Olivia claimed.
She didn't even walk him to his room, he went with them snuggling up to Olivia, while Raphael wrapped his arms around both of them. Noah was instantly asleep, and the adults didn't take long to follow.
Morning came too quickly at 5 am, the time they had to get up so Lucia could make her flight. Large cups of coffee was in all the adult's hands Noah was zooming around as though nothing happened last night, and was talking 900 miles a minute about Lucia's flight and the gifts he got yesterday as well as New years.
Lucia gave Noah a hug goodbye, as well as Olivia and Raphael before walking into the airport.
The drive back to the house seemed to take forever Noah fell asleep, and said he didn't feel good. Olivia and Rapahel put the boy to bed, and took a nap too, not waking up until mid-afternoon. The 3 of them went out to Malibu pier, Noah seemed just as excited to go as anywhere else, and it felt nice to be out and about everyone feeling better after naps. They ate and drove down the coast stopping at Vince beach and taking in the sites exciting Noah to see all people around. The sun was setting and another perfect Sunset lit up the sky before they went back to the house. Olivia smiled at the opened presents, reminding her how lucky she was and felt like she had it all.
Noah wanted to play on the deck, and Olivia agreed they all went outside feeling the ocean air cool their skin. When it got cold, they came in for hot chocolate. Despite the nap, it was edging on Noah's bedtime, and he was ready to sleep. Olivia and Raphael read him a book before bed and closed the door.
They went to their own bedroom, both checking up on work emailing and setting reminders for meetings and other things. About 1.5 later Olivia closed her laptop.
"You almost done?" Olivia asked.
"Been done, just looking at some news." Raphael replied.
"I know something else you could look at." Olivia whispered.
Raphael laughed and turned to her.
"It's hard to keep my eyes off of you," Raphael admitted.
Olivia blushed and allowed the man to kiss her lips.
"Sorry, we haven't done more than this." Raphael claimed.
"Don't worry we've been tired, and I couldn't do it with your mom in the room next to us." Olivia claimed.
Raphael once again laughed.
"Well tonight, let me make it up to you," Raphael stated, as he already began touching her lightly, kissing her, putting his hands under clothes.
The two of them worked slowly, undressing each other, not in any rush. Olivia is happily allowing him to tease her, as she knew she was doing the same to him. They were softly giggling when they found a sensitive spot. He loved it when they were together, intimately touching without sex. It only made it better in the end.
Finally when they were both naked, and the two touched each other Rapahel entering Olivia Raphael couldn't help but moan out, missing this, and Olivia smiled, happy that they could feel this way about each other. After a few more thrusts, she was moaning out as well. Raphael finished first and then Olivia shortly after.
They laid there, panting not saying anything to each other. Raphael turned over, pulled her over to him. She pressed her sticky body against his for a while before Raphael finally got up to shower, then Olivia quickly followed.
