While at lunch, Rafael and Olivia took the time to inform the children of the current situation. Both of them were just as determined as Rafa to retrieve the lost members of their family.

Noah immediately swore he'd help Lucy with the younger kids and Aspen agreed with him. Both of them were bright beyond their years and Olivia knew that they would make this easier than it seemed like it was going to be.

Now, settled back in at the apartment, Rafael had his arm around Liv while they watched a movie.

Aspen had fallen asleep with her head in Rafael's lap and Noah was sitting in the chair with his back against one arm and his legs over the other.

Rafa's free hand was scrolling on his phone, digging through a list of Rita's rental properties that were available or would be in the coming weeks.

He tilted his phone to show her an apartment.

She took the phone and looked through the photos, she recognized the building. It was only a few blocks from where they sat. The apartment was a multi-story penthouse, it had four bedrooms and three bathrooms, one of which was part of the master suite. She flipped through the photos and realized the master suite had a small room with built-in bookshelves off the bedroom.

"Office," Rafa pointed and whispered.

There was one bedroom and a bathroom that shared a floor with the master suite and the living room. The lower floor was the kitchen and dining, the third bathroom, and the last two bedrooms. It was in the same school district Noah was already attending and only added a few minutes to Liv's commute. It was a nice apartment.

"There may be enough room for two desks and a small couch or couple of chairs in that office space and it's right off the master," Rafa said, "I think it would be a really good set up, you would have a place to work on paperwork after hours at home rather than being cooped up alone in your office when everyone else has gone home."

"We're not supposed to bring case files home," she replied softly, "but it looks like a wonderful place. Is there a reason you're not showing me the price?"

He reached over and slid a finger along the screen to show her the price.

Her eyes went so wide that he was worried they might fall out of her head. It was lower than she thought it would be but still more than she could afford if she was on her own.

"Are we really doing this?" She looked at him.

"Can I see?" Noah looked over.

Rafael looked at Noah, he'd thought the boy had been so entranced in the movie that he would notice the conversation.

Liv knew better than to underestimate Noah's ability to pay attention to his surroundings, she tapped the arm of the couch.

He came over, climbed onto the arm of the couch and leaned against her to look at the photos.

"If you put me and Aspen downstairs, the younger boys could be upstairs with you in case they got scared in the night," he said softly.

"That would be okay with you?" Liv asked.

"Yeah, either that or you could have Aspen upstairs with you and I could help look after the others," he continued.

Liv's heart hurt with how full it was and how proud she was to be able to say Noah is her son. He flew into big brother mode the moment he met Aspen and he was ready to take these changes on just as well, and better, than she and Rafael.

"You're sure you're okay with all of this?" Liv questioned him.

"These are my little siblings, momma. All three of them. We gotta bring them home."

"Fin is working on it, sweet boy, we can't make any promises, though because of the way the system works," she reached up and ruffled his hair with her free hand.

Rafael felt a pang in his chest at those words, he knew she was right but he hoped it wouldn't be the case. He was all in on her, on this little family in the room, and he was hopeful for the two they had yet to meet.

Noah nodded, understanding, "even if the system is mean, this place would work for us four. The extra bedroom could be a guest room or a playroom or a kid office where we do homework or somethin'."

Liv laughed softly at the idea of a 'kid office', she nodded in agreement.

"This was the best option I've seen so far. I can keep looking, though," Rafa offered.

Liv looked at Noah.

He shook his head, "too many choices makes me nervous."

She smiled and looked at Rafael, "I'm inclined to agree with him."

Rafael chuckled softly and looked at the two of them, "I'll send Rita a message and see what we can work out."

Aspen started to stir, having napped for an hour or so by this point. She rolled over and yawned, looking up at Rafa, Liv, and Noah.

"Mornin'," she mumbled as she rubbed at her eyes.

Rafa brought a hand to brush some hair from her face gently and smiled, "did you rest well?"

She nodded a little, yawning again. Her brown hair was falling out of the ponytail every which way, her face had a tinge of pink from the sun, and her green eyes were still sleepy.

"You fell asleep so fast," Noah commented, "one minute you were talking and the next you were just completely asleep."

"She was keeping up with you at the park. You guys played hard today, I'm surprised you haven't napped," Olivia said to the young boy.

He smiled at her, "I wasn't saying it was a bad thing, momma. It was just amazing how quickly she fell asleep."

Liv smiled back.

The adults headed to the kitchen to make dinner not long later while Noah and Aspen talked quietly.

They could vaguely hear him explaining that there was a chance that they wouldn't be able to help the twins but they were going to try their best.

Aspen seemed to understand and agreed that she hoped they would be able to help the twins but knew it wasn't Rafa or Olivia or even the detectives she had met's fault if they couldn't.

Rafael found himself more and more amazed by how smart and compassionate Noah had grown in the years he hadn't been around as much.

Olivia was browning some ground beef to be made into taco meat while Rafa chopped vegetables for the toppings.

"Momma, your phone is buzzing," Noah ran over with her phone.

"Thanks, bub," she took the phone from him and answered it, tucking it between her ear and shoulder, "Benson."

"Hey, Liv," it was Fin again.

"What's up?"

"The DNA came back as a match for you, Barba, and Aspen. You're definitely her parents. We're trying to get the DNA of the twins but ACS is giving us some issues and Carisi is hesitant to subpoena them."

"Why?"

"He doesn't wanna step on toes over there, we're still trying to repair the relationship between SVU and ACS from-"

"I recall," she knew which case he was referring to.

"Right, so he's trying to get permission from the father and is also broaching the topic of the father relinquishing rights to the twins since he's in for life."

"How'd they get that on DV?"

"Premeditated. Apparently found evidence suggesting it was planned."

Liv nodded.

"He can't see you nodding," Rafael commented.

Fin laughed, "no, but I can hear him telling you that."

Olivia sighed, "has Carisi been able to figure anything out with the temp order and making it permanent?"

"Given where we're at with the facility and all the evidence against them, he thinks they're gonna want to make a deal but he's not sure they're willing to take all the charges he and those above him are throwing."

"Throwing the whole book and hoping it sticks?"

"What I would do," Rafa mumbled.

Liv knew he couldn't hear the whole conversation but she met his eye and nodded to confirm his assumption of the conversation's details were correct.

He gave her a crooked, tired smile in response and then returned to chopping.

"Basically. There's a ton of charges thus far. Medical malpractice being the biggest but he's pulling a Barba and going for something outlandish and creative that the courts are either going to approve of heartily or heavily frown upon."

"That's called pulling a Barba?"

"According to Carisi it's a phrase."

Rafa's shoulders were tense as all the different thoughts of what "pulling a Barba" could be, as he hadn't heard what Fin had said. Every bad move, or even perceived bad moves, he'd made crashed over him and he froze in the middle of chopping.

"Are you okay, Rafa?" Aspen looked over the back of the couch at him.

He almost seemed to tense more but he looked at her and gave an incredibly unconvincing smile.

"He's going for kidnapping charges for every single child born to someone other than the biological parents. That's over 200 counts. They're also thinking of putting human trafficking."

The wooden spoon she'd been pushing the meat around with froze in the pan, causing the meat to sizzle louder.

Rafa came over and slid the spoon from her hand and stirred.

"Do they really think that'll work?"

"I think they're hopeful? But you'd have to ask Carisi to get a more involved answer."

"Alright, I'll call him here in a bit. Keep me posted, alright?"

"You got it," and he was gone.

Rafael looked at her.

"What?"

"Pulling a Barba?"

She realized how worried he must've been about what that could mean, the possibility that it could mean flipping a switch…

"Charges that are creative uses of the laws that are in place, perhaps overreaching but charges all the same," she moved to wrap her arms around his waist from behind and rest her chin on his shoulder, being so close to the same height, it was comfortable for her.

His shoulders relaxed at her explanation and furthermore at her touch, "I do suppose that sounds like me, what are they charging?"

"Two hundred counts of kidnapping and they're going to try for trafficking as well," she kept her voice low so the kids wouldn't hear her.

He turned to glance over his shoulder at her, "those are long shots but it's exactly what I would do."

She nodded a bit, pressing a soft kiss against his shoulder, "anyway, what'd you work out with Rita?"

"She typically goes for leases of at least a few years, but unless we're certain that's where we want to stay for a while, she's willing to do a month by month basis specifically for us."

Liv considered, "how long do we have to decide?"

"Well, it's Wednesday and she'd like a decision before this weekend but is willing to give us until Monday the latest before she resumes showing it."

"I'd like to go see it in person before I agree to such a big increase in payment."

"She also noted that she's willing to do a rent to own if it's something we like well enough," he added.

"Can we see it?"

"I already set an appointment up with her for tomorrow around lunch time, in case you decide to go in."

"You're wonderful."

He smiled and continued stirring the sizzling meat, "could you get the seasoning?"

Once dinner had been had, the two of them tucked the kids in and Rafa read them a bedtime story.

Noah fell asleep after six pages but Aspen was still awake as he finished the book.

"Rafa?" She said softly, not to wake Noah.

He hummed quietly, "what is it?"

"If we move… I'm not going to see my friends from my old school again, am I?"

Rafael considered for a few moments, "well, do you know any of their phone numbers?"

"I know Amanda's."

"What if we tried giving her a call tomorrow afternoon and see if she would be willing to meet at a park so you could play?"

"We could try," she nodded slowly.

"Okay, we can try that. Is everything else okay?"

She looked at him, "I'm worried about the twins… they must be so scared without any of their parents."

"Me too, baby girl, me too. It's okay, though, because if they're anything like you then they're very smart and very strong."

A small smile came to her face, "thank you for reading us bedtime stories. No one ever read me any before and I like the voices you do."

His heart shattered, "I'll read you bedtime stories every night for as long as you want."

She yawned a little and shifted on the camping cot, "I think I'll sleep now."

He moved over and pressed a kiss to her forehead and tucked her in, "sweet dreams, Aspen."

Rafael quietly left the room after that, heading to the living room where Liv was watching the news.

"How'd it go?" She asked him.

"Noah was out like a light. Didn't even make it six pages."

"I was surprised he didn't nap after running around so much at the park so I'm not surprised."

"Aspen had some concerns but we talked about them. We're going to try to call her friend Amanda tomorrow and see about setting up a play date."

"Worried about not seeing her friends?"

Rafa nodded, "that and the twins."

"We don't even know their names yet."

"I was afraid to ask," he admitted.

"Me too," Liv whispered.

He shifted and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against him, "we'll figure it out."

"We will," she agreed.

She knew they had had that flirty conversation that morning and while she was still interested, she was also incredibly emotionally exhausted. She didn't make any move to bring it up or lead the conversation that direction. She just settled in against him and let out a sigh.

Rafa looked over at her, his green eyes searched her side profile and he leaned a bit, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Let's go to bed, my love," he said softly, "it has been a very long day."

She nodded and used the remote to turn the television off.

He took her hand and led her toward her bedroom.