The weekend went by much too quickly. Saturday, they spent most of the day in the backyard, playing games or reading in the lounge chairs since it was so nice out. Rafael had just begun rereading 'Cien años de Soledad.' He wasn't the only one to pick up a book. Olivia had started reading 'Before We Were Yours,' by Lisa something or other. Even Noah had grabbed a small book to read: Me gustaría tener...

Rafael may or may not have encouraged him picking one of his various Spanish books, and, honestly, he didn't feel bad about it in the slightest. He did it largely because, typically, the first generation born was is bilingual, and the second generation was monolingual - in English, the children often struggling to speak easily with their immigrant grandparents.

With their unique situation being what it was, Noah starting to truly learn Spanish much later on than most, and how much English was being spoken at home on a regular basis, the kid needed as much exposure as possible if he was going to maintain any degree of fluency in Spanish when he was older.

With that being said, he tried not to push it too much. He wanted Noah to continue to enjoy Spanish and was having a hard time finding a balance on just how much to push the issue.

All in all, however, Saturday had been nice. Rafael did lock himself in his study for an hour and a half to get some stuff done that he hadn't managed to on Friday, but was with his family the rest of the day.

As for Sunday, it was raining. With the poor weather, they ended up playing a lot of board games inside. Olivia made grilled cheese and mushroom soup for dinner, and the little family ended the night watching The Secret Life of Pets.

Monday, of course, meant everyone was back to work, and Rafael already knew that he'd be working out of the home all day. He only had one arraignment hearing that morning, but it was easier in a lot of ways to get work done when he wasn't at home, hence him not doing it every day.

He was driving to the office that morning and had at the halfway point of his drive to work when some idiot driver cut him off when trying to merge into his lane.

"¡Coño! ¡Qué paragüero eres!" he yelled out as soon as the near-accident had successfully been averted. Irritated more by the fact that the idiot was now giving him the middle finger out the window for something that was entirely their fault. (Fuck! You lousy driver!)

Thankfully, the rest of the short drive went fine and Rafael was able to finally park the car and get out, closing the door behind him rather harder than intended.

Getting onto his flour of the building, he greeted Carmen, settled into his desk, and had the next thirty minutes to himself. No colleagues popping in, no phone calls coming in yet, and no emails to respond to yet.

It was enough time to ready himself for the Molineux hearing he had scheduled for the following morning, which was a huge weight off his back.

The rest of the morning, Rafael wasn't so lucky and was thrown back into his rather hectic schedule, spending a lot of time on the phone and emailing back and forth with people as well.

He had a working lunch and then went back to managing his files for an hour before getting called down to the 16th precinct.

"Credit card theft?" Rafael said with a snort. "That's pretty thin."

"Well, I had to charge her with something," Rollins shot back without missing a beat. "She was ready to walk out the door."

"And she will," Rafael quipped, "as soon as she posts bail." He quirked an eyebrow as he continued to speak. "Which will be minuscule, I might add."

"Even her mother thinks she did it," Carisi said.

Rollins eyed him. "We need more time, Counsellor."

He sighed. "We have an Amber Alert out for Mackenzie?"

"Yes," Olivia confirmed.

He eyed them all. "Well, then, get back in there and wring a confession out of her before she remembers her favourite episode of Judge Judy and lawyers up."

The case was a mess in more ways than one. An older woman named Evelyn had walked into the precinct and told them she hadn't seen her granddaughter Mackenzie in a couple of days. Her daughter had told her the little girl was at her father's for a few days, but after some odd comments had grown very concerned.

Carisi and Tamin then went to do a wellness check and talk with the daughter, Allison Taylor. She had apparently been hosing down the inside of the trunk of her car. The detectives had exited the car, and mother and grandmother got into a bit of a spat before Allison decided to explain her side of things, claiming that she had been getting ready to go pick up her daughter shortly.

Officer Tamin had 'offered' to go with Allison, and things got even more convoluted. The father was there, seemed genuinely concerned, had an alibi, and claimed Allison hadn't let him see Mackenzie in months.

They looked more into both parents at that point and ascertained that the father, Jason, was telling the truth. Looking into Allison, they ended up finding some rather suspicious purchases on a stolen credit card she still had in her possession. They were able to get a picture of the purchaser as well, confirming it was her, which they showed to Allison when confronting her with the financial records.

When Evelyn saw the photo of her daughter buying a shovel and tarp, things understandably got a little heated. Olivia pulled Evelyn aside, and she wasted no time in making her thoughts perfectly clear. She claimed Allison was a bad mother and that it was just a matter of time before something bad happened.

Rafael was then called in to observe when Allison was brought in for the second time that day. He watched as a way too calm young single mother claimed she bought the shovel for her father and denied doing anything. At that point, Rollins arrested Allison for the credit card theft and fraud.

"Too late for that," Officer Tamin said from behind them. They all turned around to see Sophie Devere standing there.

He eyed the woman. "Long time no see, Ms. Devere."

"You should be ashamed of yourselves," the defence attorney said without preamble, "conspiring to charge an innocent mother."

"Your client is as innocent as Casey Anthony," Rafael retorted. This entire case bothered him, was bothering them all, and it was clear as day that the young mother was covering something up.

"Hardly," the woman replied. "Now, I'm going to see my client."

As the defence attorney walked away, making her way towards Interrogation 1, Rafael turned his attention to the squad. "Keep an eye on those two. Devere likes her insanity pleas, among other things. The more media attention she can get, the better." He shook his head. "This case has been a dog from the start."

The squad just nodded back at him before they all started discussing what their next move was and just how they wanted to handle things. They had to handle things as quietly as possible or there was going to be a media uproar.

The captain got his attention. "Counsellor, walk you out?"

He gave her a small smile in response, gesturing for her to follow him, as he walked and readjusted his tie slightly. After they were out of the squad's earshot, he turned to face her. "You wanted to talk, Liv? What's up?" He wasn't blind. She was noticeably upset; if you knew her tells, at least.

She squeezed his hand tightly, a myriad of emotions showing on her face. "If I went home right now, I don't... I don't think I could leave Noah or Sofía."

He gave her a sad smile, completely understanding where she was coming from. "It's a tough case." He kissed her on the forehead. "Hang in there, and call if you need to, alright?" She nodded. "Good." He kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you at home, mi amor. Love you."

She gave him a lopsided smile, still close to tears. "I love you too."