The next two weeks passed in a bit of a blur. Rafael ended up working from home when he wasn't needed in court or physically at the office, with Lucy still there doing most of the child care, as he tried to get all the things that he needed to have done dealt with before he left. Thankfully, ADAs Hadid and Novak, the latter in particular, were more than willing to step up and take some of the workload while he was gone. Still, there were more than a few late nights as he tried to get everything organized in time.

He'd made a point of getting hone early when he could though, particularly when they were putting up their Christmas tree and decorating their home. He and Olivia also had some last-minute Christmas shopping to do on top of needing to grab a few things that they needed for their trip.

Both SVU and the D.A's Office had their staff Christmas parties, so he and Olivia attended those and participated in the required schmoozing. Then there was Noah's class Christmas party on the last day of school. They were allowed to bring treats to share with the class, and Noah decided to take some torticas de Morón. The cookies ended up being a huge hit, Noah returning home with an empty platter.

Moreover, they also had the Christmas concert at Noah's elementary school and the dance recital that the boy's dance school was putting on.

Friday was spent doing some last-minute packing and watching a Christmas movie together, which had been a lovely way to end a rather hectic week.

Of course, Saturday was a rather early morning. Their flight from LaGuardia Airport was at seven o'clock, but with everything being packed and ready to go from the night before, it, thankfully, wasn't that bad. Rafael's mother had made it to LaGuardia before they did, though, but then again she didn't have two kids underfoot.

Noah had been hard to actually get out of bed that morning and the eight-year-old boy still managed to somehow not know where his running shoes were when it came time for them all to actually head out the door. He loved that kid. He really did.

Sofía was slightly crabby from the teething and travel, which was understandable. She also really wanted to move around instead of being stuck in one spot. The little girl's attention eventually got pulled into the cartoon that Noah was watching on his iPad, though, and between that, Sofía's teething rings, and some Infant Tylenol, they all managed to get through the three-hour flight without major incident. Still, he was glad to be off the plane when they landed at Miami International at ten o'clock.

After grabbing their luggage, Rafael's mother headed to Kendall, and they quickly dropped their stuff off at the vacation rental they were staying at before making the drive out to his aunt's house.

Walking into the house in Kendall, they were immediately greeted by his Tía Claudia, Tío Ricardo, as well as the Torreses. After they all finished kissing each other on the cheek and greeting each other, they took a seat.

Noah had already run off somewhere in the house to hang out with the youngest of the Torres kids, Antonio. The thirteen-year-old had come out, greeted everyone, and then promptly left, Noah following right behind.

Camila and Isabel had already got their hands on Sofía and were busy showering the little girl with all the attention she could possibly want. The little girl was just giggling and just basking in the attention.

"¿Quieren un cafecito?" his Tía Claudia prodded without missing a beat. That was one thing that you knew you were going to be asked without fail when you got here. Every single time. (Would you guys like a coffee?)

Rafael was definitely not about to say no to caffeine. Not after the rather long morning that they'd had. And the coffee they had on the plane frankly left much to be desired. "Sí, por favor. Me encantaría uno, tía." (Yes, please. I'd love one, Aunty.)

His aunt gave Rafael a curt nod and turned to face Olivia. "¿Y tú?" (What about you?)

Olivia gave the elder woman a sideways smile. Olivia did have a slight preference for cortaditos over cafecitos as she found cafecitos a little much but she still liked them well enough either way that she didn't bother saying anything. "Sí, también tomaré uno si no te importa." (Yeah, I'll have one as well if you don't mind.)

His aunt immediately assured Olivia that it was no bother and then made her way to the kitchen to pour them both their drinks.

Just as his aunt was leaving, Ricardo turned to face both Olivia and Rafael. "Entonces, ¿cómo estuvo el vuelo?" (So, how was the flight?)

"Estuvo bien," Olivia told the elder man, "pero creo que todos estábamos muy contentos de bajar del avión cuando finalmente... aterrizamos." (It was fine, but I think that we were all quite glad to get off the plane when we finally... landed.)

Rafael was impressed that she was familiar with aterrizar. Only the slight hesitation in her voice when she'd said the word let him know that it was clearly a fairly new word to her. Nodding to her to assure her that she'd said it correctly he then chimed in with his own comment. "Bueno, ella no se equivoca," he quipped. (Well, she's not wrong.)

Olivia gave a little snort. "Creo que nuestra hija era la más feliz de los cuatro." (I think our daughter was the happiest of the four of us.)

They continued chatting for another minute before Rafael's aunt finally returned with two cups of coffee for both of them.

He and Olivia both thanked her and then Rafael's mother spoke up. "Lo hizo muy bien considerando su edad," the elderly woman pointed out with a small smile. (She did really well considering her age.)

He nodded his head in agreement. "Muy cierto, mami." (Very true, Mami.)

"La pobrecita," Olivia commented. "La dentición realmente la ha estado molestando." (The poor thing. The teething has really been bothering her.)

He dipped his head slightly and after taking a sip of his coffee, he put it down on the coffee table so that he could readjust his glasses. He'd opted for wearing his glasses on the plane instead of his contact lenses. His eyes did admittedly bother him a lot less without the contacts in constantly. The eyeglasses did have an annoying tendency to move around a fair amount, though, which was a slight annoyance. "Y es por eso que prefiero los lentes de contacto a los espejuelos." (And that's why I prefer contact lenses over eyeglasses.)

Ricardo quirked his brow but the older man's tone of voice made it crystal clear that he was not being serious, merely teasing Rafael. "Oh, estoy seguro de que no tiene nada que ver con la vanidad." (Oh, I'm sure that it has nothing to do with vanity.)

Rafael shot his surrogate uncle a playfully smug look, his green eyes sparkling with mirth. "¡Oye! No es fácil verse tan bien." (Hey! It's not easy looking this good.)

Olivia looked at him with an amused smile playing on her lips. "Me alegro de tener un marido tan humilde." (I'm glad to have a husband that's so humble.)

He chuckled softly. "Yo también te quiero, mi vida." (I love you too, my life.)

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Sabelotodo." (Smart aleck.)

The group happily continued prattling on until Rafael's aunt came in to let them know that lunch was finally ready. She'd made them arroz con pollo a la chorrera along with several other dishes for lunch.

Noah had just taken a sip of his materva and put the glass back down on the table when suddenly the eight-year-old boy's eyes went wide. He'd turned and accidentally hit the cup with his elbow. "¡Ay, se me derramó la bebida!" (Oh no, I spilled my drink!)

Rafael immediately gestured to Olivia that'd he would handle it, got up, and showed Noah where a clean dishcloth was, helping him clean up the mess.

Once it was all cleaned up, he poured his son a new drink and handed it to him. He then tried to give the boy what was hopefully a reassuring smile. "Tengamos más cuidado esta vez, ¿de acuerdo?" (Let's be more careful this time, shall we?)

His son looked up at Rafael with a shy smile. "Sí. ¿Me das un absorbente por favor?" (Yeah. Can I have a straw please?)

"Claro, Mijo." He then quickly went to grab one from the box that he knew was in the cupboard a mere foot away from where he was standing. (Sure, Mijo.)

His eight-year-old then proceeded to gave Rafael a sideways smile that was so very reminiscent of Olivia. "Gracias, papi." (Thanks, Papi.)

"De nada," he replied, ruffling the boy's hair playfully. (You're welcome.)

The minor situation dealt with, the pair went to join everyone else. As they sat around eating, everyone was chatting loudly and animatedly, but Rafael couldn't help but enjoy the rather boisterous atmosphere, even if that did mean dealing with a lot of people talking excitedly over each other.