My trip down memory lane has been a wonderful experience. Listening to my love tell one of my dearest friends and my legal protégé about how we met and how our relationship started is a great thing. Hearing our story from her perspective is something not many people get to experience, but I'm very lucky in more ways than one. Olivia raises her glass towards us as she comments on this lyrical story.

"Well, it seems as though everything has worked out for the best."

I lean towards Lillian and give her a quick kiss on the shoulder.

"Yup."

Now Carisi has to get involved in this. Of course he does. Did I teach him nothing?

"So how did he propose, Lillian? I've never pictured Barba as a down on one knee guy."

I literally can not help myself. I have to.

"Objection. Badgering and none of your damn business, Carisi."

To which Olivia responds with a smile as she looks at me.

"Overruled."

Lillian can't help but laugh as she answers Carisi's question, which makes me hang my head and pretend to be genuinely interested in the pattern my knife makes in the sauce on my plate. The rumor of my lack of romanticism is coming to an abrupt public end right this moment.

"Knowing how Rafi dislikes being placed in conjunction with romance and emotion, I'll say this. We had been living together for what, 6 months?"

I nod my head as I reach for my wine glass.

"That sounds about right."

I take a sip as she continues.

"I had taken a few days off work and was home making dinner. I think I made Ropa Vieja."

"Wait, you made old clothes? Do I even want to hear about this?"

Both of us laugh and I explain.

"It's one of Cuba's National dishes. It's shredded beef, veggies, usually with rice or tortillas. Dios mio…"

I shake my head. You're such a genius, Carisi.

"Anyway, he came home from work and praised the virtue of my culinary skills the moment he walked in. I think it went something like 'the only thing that would make this any better is if you married me' or something completely ridiculous to that effect. To which I of course said, well I can't right now dear, but maybe later."

"She thought I was insane."

Olivia looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Thought, Rafa?"

I smirk as I raise my glass in Olivia's direction then take a sip.

"Nice, Liv."

"We had dinner and after cleaning up we went outside and sat on the balcony. It was a lovely night, nice and warm but there was a calm, relaxing breeze, it was perfect. He took hold of my hand, looked at me and said that he was being serious earlier, and he wanted to know if he officially asked if I actually would. I said I was being serious as well, but dinner would have been spoiled, so he needed to re-ask me later and that very moment would be considered later."

To spare Carisi the juicy details I interject. He doesn't need to know how I ran back into my office and got the ring that is now on her finger from my desk, went down on one knee and in front of the entire populous of New York as well as the billions of stars in the sky and asked this beautiful woman to marry me.

"So I officially asked and she said yes."

Lillian looks at me with a sweet smile.

"It was simple, lovely and it was absolutely perfect."

I take her left hand in mine and give it a kiss on the top. Just at this moment Olivia's phone vibrates and she picks it up, looking a little disappointed that she no doubt has to leave.

"I'm so sorry, I'd love to stay but I've gotta go."

"I should probably go with, Liv in case you need something."

"Thanks, Carisi."

"We completely understand Olivia. Thanks for coming both of you, this was nice."

They both attempt to take out their wallets and I wave that off.

"This is on us, Liv. Even you, Carisi but you get the next one tho."

He smirks at us both.

"You got it, Barba. It was wonderful to meet you, Lillian."

"You too, Counsellor."

"Sonny, please. Barba."

"Carisi."

I stand up to shake his hand, and I give Olivia a hug as they leave. She whispers in my ear just before she pulls away.

"She's your person, Rafa. Take good care of her. "

"You know I will, Liv."

"Good to see you again, Lillian. Have a great week."

"You too, Olivia. Stay safe, both of you."

I sit back down beside my love, who is gazing out of the window, making sure that our friends get safely into a cab. She waves at them as they pull away from the curb and as she takes a deep breath I take her hand in mine and it's then that I truly notice her hands. They feel soft as silk thanks to the lotion I bought her that she says she loves, but the palm of her hand is still bandaged. It's for that reason that I've been grasping only her fingers not her whole hand. It's been a struggle, but I've managed.

"You ready to head home?"

She nods her head.

"I think so, Rafi. I'm a little tired."

I look at her with concern, my right hand sweeping away her curls from her face.

"Are you alright? You haven't seemed yourself lately, and I'm just concerned."

She smiles and nods her head.

"I'm just pensive, mi amor. Extrordinarily pensive."

"If you want to lighten the load, I have two shoulders here. No waiting, no reservations needed."

She continues her smile, but her eyes glisten as though she's about to cry. I wrap my arm gently around her as she leans towards me. I've come to learn that one of the things that calms her the most when she's having a moment or stress is overtaking her is for me to kiss her either on the top of the head or the forehead. It's the top of her head right now, as her head is leaning on my right shoulder. I leave my kiss on her head as I whisper to her.

"I love you, you know. I'm here whenever you're ready to talk about it. Ok?"

She nods her head and quietly says ok. She has no problem talking when she's at work or we're out, but she's an introvert by nature, as am I really, and we know each other well enough now to know when we're having introverted moments. I take the credit card out of my wallet, place it in the billfold to let the server know we're ready to go. I pay the bill and as I get up I hold Lillian's jacket for her to make sure she doesn't get a chill as we head outside. Holding the door open for her I place my hand gently on the small of her back to make sure she's stable walking out into the cool night breeze. After a few seconds she turns to look at me.

"Rather than take a cab, do you fancy a walk home? It's only a few blocks and it's not bitterly cold out."

I smile and extend my arm for her to thread her left hand through.

"Of course."

With a smile on my face that is becoming increasingly difficult to camouflage these days, we walk slowly and for the most part silently together along the streets of Manhattan. I'm much more into metaphorical and emotional hand holding than the physical and literal kind. I much prefer to link arms and stroll, much as we're doing now. I'm not sure why it is, but it seems so very old fashioned, very chivalrous almost. I think it also has to do with the fact that when she links her arm around mine and she's wearing it, her ring will glisten in the light and everyone will know that she's mine and very much off the market. After almost thirty minutes of silently reveling in the delightful company on my arm we've made it home and are just winding down for the night. I head into my office and check my emails quickly to make sure that nothing has unfolded terribly during our night out. Nothing has which makes me unbearably happy so I turn off the lights and head to the bedroom. I'm not all that surprised to see that Lillian has gotten herself tucked in and is already curled up on her side, how she always falls asleep. I know she's not asleep yet, because I know the rhythm of her breathing when she's asleep. When she's asleep her breathing is steady and peaceful, because her mind and spirit are as well. She's relaxed to be sure but she's unwinding from the chaos of her day, from whatever situation she's dealing with that she's not quite ready to tell me about yet. I get that. There are situations at work that I don't tell her about right away, because I want to stew on them for a little while, and this is no doubt something similar. I pull the blankets back and lay on my back, just taking a moment to let my eyes adjust to the darkness that surrounds us. I feel her turn towards me, and she inches herself closer, resting her left hand on my stomach and her head on my chest. Instinctively I put my arm around her and hold her close.

"You ok?"

I feel her nod her head slightly.

"I just love falling asleep like this. It's so calming and peaceful. I feel so safe."

I smile as my eyes close while I run my fingers gently through her hair as she has told me she loves.

"En cualquier momento mi amor. Dormir bien."

I feel her take a deep cleansing breath, her arm and hand resting gently on me, as she sighs and it's a sound I can never tire of. The steady sound of her breathing is like music to me. Feeling her breathe so softly, laying her head on my chest as she sleeps is one of the greatest honors of my life. I'm truly lucky and I can't imagine that at this moment, how I could be any happier or content.

TBC

Feedback/Reviews are appreciated greatly and are lovely... like an arm in arm walk through the streets of Manhattan. :) *sigh*