A/N: Hey everyone, I was hoping to get this up way sooner, but I have been working on some other things. This is a sequel to Moving Along. This can most likely be read as a stand alone, but there may be some confusing parts. This is set 8 years in the future a few years after Olivia retires. I wanted Noah to be a teenager, so that is primarily why this time frame. This will have some time jumps and short snippets during Noah's high school days, and navigating towards adulthood. It will have a lot of Noah and friends, Olivia and Rafael are in here as well as few surprises. (I usually try to have my stories done before I post but this one is not done, and I may be really sporadic I am 5 chapters deep I don't see this being longer than Moving Along, but we'll see.) Reviews are always appreciated.
Olivia and Rafael had finally decided to repaint the apartment after living together for 8 years and being married for 6 of those years. Olivia couldn't help but think back to the time Noah looked in awe out the window watching the ships on the Hudson. The water still calmed her when she felt wound up.
The paint had been dried and as Noah and Rafael took off to their busy days Olivia hung the pictures back on the wall. Being retired gave her the perks of doing what she wanted when she wanted. So today was the day she was going to get the apartment in order.
The first picture she pulled out was Noah's 10th birthday, they had been at the Trampoline park, and if she remembered correctly it was the last time they went. Dalton and Noah were smiling brightly along with some other kids Sandra and Kirk were still his friends, but the rest of the kids had faded away as many elementary-age friends do. She was glad that he had some long-time friends and couldn't believe that was 5 years ago.
The next picture she pulled was their wedding. Olivia smiled at the non-traditional silver-colored dress that hugged her curves and made her feel like a princess. She had no veil. Rafael insisted on being her "something blue" and wore a blue velvet tux for the wedding. The wintertime wedding symbolized so many things in their life. The ring on her finger felt heavy for a long time, now it felt like a part of her. Everyone in the squad room had been overly excited Fin surprised her the most. The next person that surprised her was Brian. She thought he maybe bitter despite knowing for a long time that marriage is where the relationship was going but she had his full support. Brian had become her best friend over the years and Noah's favorite uncle.
The next picture she pulled was Lucia, Rafael, Noah, and herself. She couldn't help the stray tear that fell down her face, they lost her a year ago and the wound cut her deeply. She felt like she lost her mom all over again. Noah was devastated at the loss as was Rafael but the two grieved together growing their bond of father and son even more. The smiles on all their faces were genuine the sunset glow illuminated their faces, that was the last time the family had went to Malibu, a trip was planned in the coming months but Olivia couldn't think about it at the moment, she quickly moved on to the next photograph.
The next picture was Noah, on stage at hip hop performance Olivia couldn't remember his age but he had given that up 3 years ago. Noah seemed to be into just about everything art related, drawing, prop design for theater, he played trumpet in the band. Though he loved to dance, he felt that the dance class was too much and dropped. Olivia just wanted to make him happy and hoped she did the right thing by letting him quit.
The next picture she had to hang was her retirement party. She had to laugh at that night. She was drunk, the only way she knew she would get through the night. The group picture had the goofy smile that let her know she was intoxicated, the other people around her had rosy red cheeks that gave it away as well. Rafael remained sober, his arms wrapped around her, as his head stuck out to her side. People from as far back as she could remember came to send her off. Elliott Stabler had been on her other side. She was surprised by his return to the NYPD, and mad at him for the longest time, but time does heal wounds, and about a year after coming back, they had become best friends again, partnering up often to take down some of the worst scum NYC had to offer. She had a wonderful time and despite her retirement, she couldn't stay away, she had contracted for the DA's office much as Munch had and had also worked a day or two a week at the rape crisis hotline.
The next picture she hung up was a picture of Noah his first day Freshman year and it still stunned her that her little boy was in high school. She had to admit it made her think of adopting again, but there was so much on everyone's plate. She and Rafael had talked about it a few times over the years but it never seemed to be the right time. She wondered if it ever would be. She was happy with her life and she knew a child would only complicate matters. They already agreed they were too old for babies. Olivia was pushing 60 and Rafael was 57 they were by no means young. Olivia wasn't sure how time moved so quickly but she was sure that it was only moving more quickly the older she got.
The final picture that hung in the living room was a picture of Lucy and James, with twin boys Daniel and Johnathon. They were 5 years old and Olivia had begged for the family to come over every chance they had. Noah felt it was odd his childhood babysitter and his mom were still friends but it didn't bother Rafael and Olivia in the slightest.
Olivia moved on to the hallway leading to the bathroom and bedrooms. One picture was her and Noah on his adoption day. The other was an early picture of her and Rafael before they had even gotten together, a candid photo that Sonny took one night when they were celebrating a win. The next picture was her squad along with Sonny right before she retired. Sonny Carasi made one hell of an ADA. Amanda and Sonny disclosed quickly after he went to the DA's office. Olivia couldn't be happier for the 2 of them. Olivia shook her head when she put the next picture up Amanda, Sonny, Jessie who was 12 Billie who was 10 Tony 8 Costanza 5, and Millie 2. Amanda was shocked by Millie's surprise appearance but of course, loved her just the same. Olivia had to admit going to the Carasi house was something to behold but she enjoyed it every time. She smiled as she put one more photo up a picture of her and her mother. She missed her, she would admit but was glad that the chaos her mother always seemed to cause was no longer hers to deal with.
Olivia then hung some paintings on the wall something she realized she loved collecting after she and Rafael lived together for a while. Olivia was happy with how the last 8 years had passed by but the next few years she felt were going to be rough. Although Noah was her "sweet boy." he was growing up. She tried to deny it for a long time but the growth spurt and the back talking and coming home after curfew had made her see he wasn't her little boy anymore.
Olivia looked at the clock it was just past noon. Usually, on Fridays, she would always go for a run, but it was pouring down the rain, so she relaxed reading a book and catching up with some TV before Noah got home from school and Rafael would make it through the door.
Olivia knew that his job with NYU wouldn't last long after an incident that Olivia would never forget. Rafael had been a professor for 5 years, he had just gotten tenure. He was walking back to his car when he saw a university police officer quickly shove a kid onto the cop car hood screaming at him. Another officer holding him down and another with a gun trained on the kid's head. Rafael rushed over to the scene. He found out that the kid now had a bloody nose, and bruises to his wrists because he had been sneaking food from one of the kitchens on campus. Rafael quickly found out the child Ricky was only 15 and after speaking to him for quite a while he had been homeless for almost 3 months. All the children's shelters were full and his 3rd foster family kicked him out. From that day on Rafael took the boy under his wing, found services for him, helped him with school work. The kid was over to their apartment multiple times a week. There was even discussion about adopting him, but a long lost paternal grandfather had shown up, someone Ricky knew well when he was younger and trusted. Olivia and Rafael still follow up with him from time to time he was 19 now, going to Penn State on a scholarship. Rafael Barba was now a public defender in the juvenile system and Olivia couldn't be more proud.
Olivia looked at the mail an invitation to speak at a Police training. She was always asked to do this kind of thing and she enjoyed doing them every now and again. She would be invited all over the country. She vowed when she retired she would be there for her family. She looked to see if it fit with her schedule. She was proud to say since retiring she had never missed a holiday. She was able to take care of the apartment, and take care of her boys. It was an adjustment for sure but she loved every minute of it. It took her close to a year, to stop answering her phone "Benson" when she got a call. She was worried once she retired she wouldn't see the squad again, but Amanda and the kids would come over at least once a week or they would go over there. Fin stopped by often he too retired 3 months after Olivia. Kat would often text or send a message, she would visit occasionally but they weren't as close. Brian had retired 2 years ago, and seriously Olivia couldn't thank the man enough. Noah had seen him as the "cool uncle." Olivia could think of about 100 incidents where she wanted to strangle Brian after taking Noah to a late movie, letting him have ice-cream before dinner. He gave Noah a sex talk and gave him condoms 2 years ago. Rafael had to stop her from kicking the man out of their apartment. She knew she shouldn't have gotten mad and later thanked him, knowing his heart was in the right place.
Olivia looked around at the apartment, hating how quiet the days seemed to be, something she never quite got overused to the buzz of a busy office, used to the buzz of a little boy running around telling stories. Now that Noah was older he liked to be in his room more than with his parents. She knew it was just his age, but she missed him. Olivia looked at the clock knowing that both Raphael and Noah would be home soon. She decided to make them a snack before dinner. The two still shared in the love of snacks. The cabinets were always filled with chips and nuts, cereal, and crackers. She shook her head when they came home and congregated in the kitchen. Neither one of them expected her to make anything and despite Rafael working daily, he would often come home and offer to cook.
Olivia had made something simple, tuna salad, and had various crackers for the two to dip, she was thinking it was going to be a pizza night. It seemed that the three of them lived on pizza but no one ever complained and she was happy to pay to have hot food delivered to her door.
Noah walked through the door first, telling his mom about his schedule for the upcoming week, it sounded like once again, he would be staying after school for a band or a club the rest of the week. Olivia reached over to the whiteboard on the fridge and wrote down the times. Noah was quickly eating all the Tuna salad and Olivia just shook her head, thinking her husband was just going to have some almonds by the time he walked in the door.
Rafael walked through the door, with less than ½ the tuna salad still there and smacked at Noah's hand to get it out of the bowl.
Rafael stated that work was relatively slow and was glad that he had time to go through the caseload and get everything situated. A new state policy had come out, making it harder to convict anyone under the age of 16. Most kids needed intensive counseling, better parents, inpatient mental health treatment, not to be locked up with other violent kids. Of course, he had other cases, and not all his kids were exactly innocent.
Rafael looked around the apartment taking it all in wondering when life got to be so carefree. He could say for the first time in a long time that everything has been going pretty well. Rafael watched as Olivia called in a pizza, and he couldn't believe that after all this time she still chose him. When he quit at NYU he sort of expected her to go off, even maybe leave him. He knew it was a silly thought, but he had been so irate at the time he didn't even discuss it with Olivia. Olivia had easily forgiven him. After all these years he didn't think he deserved her.
Rafael was looking at the photos Olivia hung back up, the apartment was once again in order. The new paint on the walls put a breath of fresh air into the place and made it feel more like home. The darker color made the bright photos pop.
Noah was sitting on the couch doing some type of worksheet watching something on TV and texting all at the same time. He thought about telling Noah to pick one or the other, but he was just grateful his kid was actually home. A lot of kids that walk through the door at work are Noah's age and it's getting harder and harder to work with them because every kid he saw reminded him of Noah or Dalton or another one of Noah's friends. Rafael hated that work and family were so easily relatable. He had so many talks with Noah, and he hated it. It seemed like every kid he got made him think about having a talk with Noah.
He has had multiple sex talks, drug talks, pornography talks, stealing talks, active shooter talks, talks about mental health, and everything else and he felt no matter how often he talked to the boy it was never enough. He was sure that Noah was annoyed to death by the conversations but at least Noah would let him talk. Rafael wasn't exactly sure if he would ever get through to him but it made him feel better.
Noah went back into his room around 9 pm. Olivia and Rafael sat on the couch Olivia telling him about the upcoming conference in 3 months that she plans on speaking at, and Rafael agrees she should go. She talks about the hotline and her schedule for the upcoming week 4 hours Tuesday, and Thursday.
Saturday came, and the usual meeting at Amanda and Sonny's was happening, they didn't go every Saturday but it was often the only time all four of the adults were free. Sometimes the kids were missing from their get-together which was a different change of pace but this week everyone would be gathered at the Carasi dinner table.
Olivia smiled at all the kids running around the Carisi home in queens. Amanda and Sonny both had the knack to hold multiple conversations easily keeping up with Olivia, Rafael, and 2 of their kids. Noah was playing with the other kids, and Olivia felt grateful that Noah, was so willing and eager to play with them.
"Maybe you should have given him a sibling." Amanda pointed out as Noah, held no shame in playing little kids games with Millie and Costanza.
Olivia and Rafael looked knowingly.
"We've thought about it, but the timing never felt right, and any day I am waiting for Rafa here to bring one home," Olivia claimed.
Rafael looked at her knowledge, there were a few times he was close to doing just that.
Amanda smiled at Olivia and Rafael glad that after all this time they were still together. It had been a rough time after Rafael's mother had passed and there for a while the whole family had tended to duck in cover in their tiny apartment. Amanda wished she could go back to the time that an apartment was all she needed but with five kids the house in Queens was a must. The backyard was spacious. It was a four-bedroom home that they could barely afford but it was theirs Amanda didn't mind the drive into to work nor, did Sonny, often that was their alone time together.
Although Noah had entertained the kids for quite a bit of time there was only so much a teenager could take and he walked back over to the adults desperate to join them instead.
Olivia smiled knowingly at her son, the place could be overwhelming and although she loved the family of 7 dearly there were also times when they got back to the apartment she had a pounding headache. The group changed to focus on school and art.
"Mom, can I go to Melissa's house?" Jesse begged.
Amanda looked at her.
"Don't you want to spend time with Aunt Olivia and Uncle Rafa?" Amanda asked.
"I do, but Melissa got a new puppy," Jesse claimed.
Olivia smiled.
Amanda looked up at Olivia who mouthed "let her go."
"Alright but just for a little bit, dinner will be ready in about an hour and a half I want you home by then," Amanda claimed.
Jesse nodded her head and ran from the backyard to Melissa's house 2 yards away.
Olivia smiled.
The group of 9 had shuffled back into the house for a Lasagna that Sonny made. Noah and Olivia loved it. Rafael enjoyed but it wasn't his favorite. He did love talking to all the kids. Rafael once again had multiple talks, especially with Jesse and Billie. Sonny would regularly run stuff by Rafael and occasionally he would do the same. Olivia and Amanda would play catch up, Amanda was Sargent after all. A lot of stuff never changed. Olivia would blow off steam when a rape victim would call but refuse to go to the police. She had made MO notes in her notebook to try to find patterns. She knew she wasn't supposed to and she could be made to leave the hotline, but she didn't care, if it took a rapist off the streets she was okay with it.
The group around the table was loud, but inviting and Olivia couldn't help but be intrigued how they all could hear each other let alone think, it was something that had taken a while getting used to but she certainly wouldn't change it. Amanda's kids looked happy and for a brief moment, it reminded her of her early days with SVU, when the Stabler children would sit around the table, just not as happy. Olivia was glad that Amanda and Sonny had been strong enough to overcome the crazy work hours, the time away from each other, and the kids. There were a lot of rough times for Amanda and Sonny especially after Tony was born.
It took a while for the girls to adjust to Carasi moving in and Amanda having a little boy. There was a lot of back and forth. The girls didn't understand why Sonny, was Tony's dad, but not theirs. They didn't understand unlike their fathers why Sonny was living with Amanda, they wanted their dads to live there too. They were jealous and upset. It was understandable and took a lot of family counseling to get the girls to understand what was going on. In the long run, it had made for a more stable family unit.
Olivia puts the baked pasta dish in her mouth and sighs. She loves Rafael's cooking and since her retirement, she has learned to make a few dishes of her own, but Carasi was the cook in this friendship group hands down. Olivia can't remember a thing that Sonny had made and she didn't like. Olivia smiled as she looked around at this family, happy to see everyone talking and smiling.
The visit lasted way too late like it always did, waiting for the younger kids to fall asleep, even Noah was getting tired before they drove back to their apartment. Olivia and Rafael caught each other up on the conversations that they missed. Noah was to tired to care. He had his cell phone and talked to Jessie a lot. Even though she was younger than him, they really had a connection. Noah would never admit to his friends but Jesse had helped him out numerous times, about a year ago he realized that her age didn't matter she could relate to him like no one else ever could.
Dalton had asked Noah if he was attracted to Jesse a few times, but he couldn't describe the connection. He thought of her as the younger annoying kid from down the block, always wanting to follow in whatever he did, but at the same time Jesse and Noah could talk about anything and they had this open dialog he had never had with anyone else. They never fought, they tried to see each other opinions and she was one of the only people who understood what it was like to have a mom obsessed with sex crimes.
When Rafael pulls into their parking spot Noah wakes up, tired and slowly walking to the elevator Olivia looks at her little boy wondering how quickly the next few years will race by.