Chapter 23: Fun and Planning

Summary: Liv and Rafa's PDAs are too much for Fin and the wedding is planned with lightning speed.

"I told you they would be engaged before Christmas," Rollins whispered to Carisi and Fin when Liv shared the news the following day. "You both owe me $20."

Fin rolled his eyes. These kids would bet on anything, and he should have known better. "Congrats Liv, you and Barba make a great match."

Liv smiled tearfully as she hugged her oldest friend. A loud laugh escaped her when Fin added, "I will shoot him if he hurts you."

"You and me both, Fin," she teased.

"We should celebrate!" Carisi declared with a clap of his hands. "Karaoke night on Thursday?"

Liv and Rollins agreed much to Fin's dismay. "Don't worry Fin, Rafa will outshine us all, anyway."

"Speaking of our illustrious ADA," Rollins stated, watching Rafa stride into the squad room, chest puffed out and an extra pep in his step.

Taking in the broad grins on their faces, Rafa smirked with pride. "I take it my fiancé shared the news?"

"Congrats Rafael!" Carisi cheered, pulling Rafa into an unexpected hug. The tall detective ignored the stiffness coming from the ADA and clapped him on the back a few times.

"Carisi, please unhand my fiancé," Liv muttered at the disgruntled look on Rafa's face, holding back a laugh.

The congratulations continued until Liv called them to order to discuss their most recent case.

Thursday turned out to be an unexpectedly slow day for SVU. Taking advantage of the lack of cases, Liv suggested that they all leave a little early for their karaoke celebration so they could get home at a reasonable hour.

Rafa strolled into the squad room as the team was ready to head out. He was looking particularly casual without a suit jacket or vest, his sleeves rolled up to show off his lean forearms. He still wore his tie, loosened, and the top few buttons of his shirt were undone.

Liv felt weak in the knees at the very sight of him with the light dusting of chest hair just peeking out of his shirt.

Nodding to the team, his sharp green gaze caught the way she watched him. "See something you like, Lieutenant?" he murmured once he made it to her side.

"Always," Liv breathed and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "You ready?"

"I guess," he replied. Though he occasionally enjoyed singing to relieve stress, he wasn't particularly looking forward to singing for the team's entertainment, nor did he feel particularly stressed at the moment. He did look forward to being better than Carisi, so there was that.

With a roll of her eyes, Liv led the team out of the precinct, headed to the karaoke joint that Amanda and Liv spotted Rafa at all those months ago. Snagging a table on the right side of the stage, drinks were ordered as everyone perused the song list.

"I'm feeling some Bon Jovi," Rafa whispered to Liv, placing a hand on her thigh beneath the table. "How about you?"

"I think I'll go country to start."

"I can't wait to see that," Rafa smirked.

The drinks arrived quickly much to everyone's relief. Liquid courage was needed for most of them.

"Cheers to Liv and Barba!" Amanda raised her beer to everyone's cheers. "Now, let's get this party started!"

Conversation and drinks flowed for an hour or so before Rafa rose from the table, the first to take his turn on the stage. He belted out the lyrics to Bon Jovi's Bed of Roses with gusto causing goosebumps to rise on Liv's skin. She kissed him soundly when he returned to the table, uncaring about the PDA in front of the others.

"Get a room!" Fin yelled over the bustle of noise, to which Liv just waved dismissively and deepened the kiss.

The wine was starting to give her the warm fuzzies leaving her feeling so happy and relaxed. Knowing she had to pry her lips away from Rafa's before things became truly inappropriate, Liv rose to take her turn. She stumbled her way through Breathe by Faith Hill, wishing she took her turn before Rafa. Still, the growing crowd cheered when she finished, though she wondered if they were just thankful it was over.

"You can't carry a tune in a bucket, mi amor, but I still love you," Rafa teased and nuzzled into her neck. She swatted at him playfully when he pulled her nearly onto his lap.

"Alright Carisi, we're up!" Amanda called, tugging the tall detective by the hand. They entertained the crowd with an amusing rendition of Walk This Way by Aerosmith. The couple really got into it with snazzy dance moves and Amanda's hair flips. The crowd cheered raucously as the performance came to an end.

"Anyone down for a shot?" Rafa asked the group once Amanda and Carisi returned. Liv glanced at him, taking in his dopey smile. He was definitely catching a buzz and having fun. She loved seeing him like that. "I know Fin needs one before he gets up on the stage."

"I see the party is in full force already," Rita Calhoun's haughty voice sounded from behind Liv and Rafa as the shots were ordered. She let the server know to bring two extras, sliding into the open seat next to Fin. "Guess I have some catching up to do."

"Rita!" Rafa greeted his long-time friend happily, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and knocking Liv off his lap as he leaned over.

"I see someone is already two sheets to the wind," Rita deadpanned.

"And well on his way to three sheets," Liv grumbled as she slid back into her own seat.

Rafa's hand reached for her apologetically. "Sorry, mi amor," he murmured, his fingers dancing softly along the side of her face before tangling in her hair. He pulled her in for a searing kiss much to the groans of the rest of the table.

"Have they been like this all evening?" Rita asked Fin.

"Unfortunately," he grimaced in response. "Feels like I've been telling them to get a room every five minutes."

Rita chuckled and pulled the karaoke menu closer. "What have you picked?"

"I, uh, haven't," Fin replied uncomfortably. "This isn't really my scene."

The defense attorney was surprised by this, honestly. The man always seemed so confident and unflappable. It was endearing to see him nervous. "Would you want to be my back up singer? I doubt this crowd will let you get out of this completely."

Fin turned his keen gaze to the woman next to him, for the first time considering her as a woman and not just the tenacious defense attorney on the other side of the court room. His mood lightened when he realized how attractive she was when he actually stopped to look. "Ah, what the hell. I'm in. Pick something good."

Another hour and too many rounds later, the SVU team and Rita watched in hysterics as Rafa stood, removed his tie from his neck, and tightened it around the crown of his head. He then skipped to the stage for his final song of the evening, Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. The crowd around them delighted in Rafa's performance and he had them joining in on the chorus before long.

"That's my man!" Liv cheered and whistled when the song ended and Rafa bowed. She loved when he let loose like that and truly let himself enjoy the moment. She kissed him breathless when he returned to his seat next to her. They gazed at each other with goofy grins. "You were so good up there!"

"I had a lot of fun tonight," Rafa declared excitedly.

"I can tell," she replied, toying with the ends of the tie hanging off the side of his head. "I like this look."

Eyes gleaming, Rafa raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah? I know something else I'd like to use this tie for."

Liv pulled the end of the tie to bring his face closer to hers. "Maybe you can demonstrate when we get home."

The steamy kiss they shared caused Fin to jump up from the table. He had enough of the lovesick couple. "And that's my cue to call it a night!"

Liv popped into Rafa's office for lunch the following day, his favorite takeout in hand, knowing he had a terrible hangover despite the somewhat early night. They sat close together on his couch, feet up on the coffee table, as they ate.

"Ugh, I should not have done those shots," Rafa complained.

"You were having fun, Raf. It's good to let loose like that now and again," she soothed. "Besides, you were very playful and cute."

Rolling his eyes at being called cute, he chugged some coffee, fourth one of the day. "I'd prefer sexy or devastatingly handsome to cute, Liv."

"You can be all three, they're not mutually exclusive," she replied with a shrug and a smirk.

They continued eating for a bit longer before Rafa spoke again. "So, have you given any thought to when you would like to get married? We haven't talked about it yet."

Liv placed her takeout container down on the table and shifted to face Rafa on the couch. Placing her hand on his thigh, her thumb caressed his leg. "I've been thinking about it a lot, actually. How would you feel about an April wedding?"

Following Liv's lead, Rafa placed his container down and took her hand in his. "April, huh? I like it. Did you have a location in mind?"

Silence reigned for a bit as she considered their options. "It was so beautiful when you proposed in Central Park. What if we had the wedding there as well? Maybe in Shakespeare Garden? We wouldn't need to buy any flowers with that garden."

Rafa's lips spread into a warm, adoring smile. "Nothing would make me happier, Liv."

They continued chatting about wedding details and settled on having a semi-casual, intimate event with close family and friends. Neither of them needed or wanted a large, formal affair.

"That might have been the quickest wedding planning in history," Liv laughed, standing to head back to the precinct. "I'll make some calls to reserve everything. We'll go with whatever date is available in April."

"I cannot wait to marry you, mi amor," Rafa murmured as he pulled her into a searing kiss before she walked out the door.