Chapter 25: Pre-Wedding Fun
Summary: A mellow bachelor/bachelorette night for the happy couple.
Notes: Thank you for the lovely comments/reviews. The story is coming to an end soon.
It did not take long for Rafa to connect with the right people for an opportunity at Columbia. They were eager to have someone of his caliber on staff and offered a lucrative salary and benefits package to entice him not to look elsewhere. After discussing it with Liv, he decided not to play the competitive offer game, for now, and accepted the position to start in the fall semester. He would spend the time until them undergoing required training and would shadow a colleague during lectures when his busy ADA schedule allowed.
Liv was proud of him for facing such a life changing move with aplomb. She could already see the burden of stress lifted from his shoulders knowing he only had a handful of months left at the DA's office. He had a spring in his determined step once again and the frown line between his brows diminished. It made her heart swell to see him content with such a big change.
In the meantime, the wedding was fast approaching. Given the heavy caseload and life changes, the happy couple was grateful that they decided to keep the event small and intimate. It made the planning much easier and allowed them to focus on the most important things – loving each other and starting their life together.
Feeling they were both too old for any raucous bachelor/bachelorette parties, they opted for a joint night out with their closest friends. Liv let Amanda choose the activity and they were all pleased with the outcome, except for Rafa.
"Bowling?" he groused. "I haven't been bowling since I was 8 years old, and it went about as well as my first year of little league."
"It's just a night of fun with friends, Rafa," Liv soothed her prickly fiancé. "No one is expecting you to be any good."
"Gee, thanks," he pouted, knowing it would get Liv to kiss him. "I'd really rather just stay here with you and do anything other than bowl. The shoes alone are ghastly!"
After placing a series of kisses on his soft lips, she laughed. "We'll all be wearing the same ghastly shoes. You'll survive a few hours of the utter fashion travesty, Rafa."
"You say that now, but I could very well die of mortification, Liv."
"Always with the flair for the dramatic," she teased and pushed him toward the bedroom. "Go get changed so we can head out soon. We're meeting everyone at Bowlero at Chelsea Piers. Dress casual! The bowling shoes will definitely clash with your suits."
Liv chuckled at his retreating form as he grumbled his way to the bedroom. She knew deep, deep down that he was actually looking forward to the evening and he would have a good time. She would just have to ply him with a few drinks from the bar to get him to loosen up.
Rafa returned to the living room ten minutes later, clad in fitted jeans and a light-weight sky blue sweater. Liv could not help but grab his ass when he walked by her. He looked good in those jeans! And the sweater clung to his form enticingly
"Hands to yourself, Lieutenant!" he teased, slipping on a pair of shoes.
"Apologies, Counsellor. I just can't help myself," she quipped and wrapped her arms around his neck, lips drawn to his like a magnet.
"Don't start something we don't have time to finish, Liv," he said after the kiss deepened and the swirl of desire threatened to creep up.
"Just wanted to give you something to look forward to if you play nice tonight," Liv replied.
"I got us two lanes right over there," Amanda greeted when they arrived, pointing toward the row of bowling lanes where Carisi, Fin, and Rita were gathered. "Go get some shoes, pick your bowling balls, and meet us over there."
"I'm going need a drink, asap," Rafa murmured as he followed Liv to the counter to get their shoes. Once the hideous footwear was in place, he beelined it to the bar and ordered a double scotch on the rocks for himself and a glass of cabernet for Liv. He slipped the bartender his credit card to keep the tab open and requested drinks to be delivered to their lanes as needed.
Once the amber liquid graced his lips and burned down his throat, Rafa felt himself begin to relax. He could do this. Hell, maybe it would even be fun. Having delivered the drinks to the table behind their lanes, Rafa greeted everyone and left in search of a suitable bowling ball. The search took longer than he expected, and he was immensely skeeved by having to place his fingers into the grips of so many bowling balls just to find the right fit and weight. Hopefully Liv had some hand sanitizer in her bag.
Anticipating her fiancé's needs, Liv held out a small bottle of sanitizer to him when he finally returned with a ball. He shot her a relieved smile and placed a quick kiss on her cheek before smothering his hands with the gelatinous liquid.
"Now that we're all finally ready, what are the teams?" Rita inquired, impatient to get this ridiculousness over with. Liv thought it must be a lawyer thing to be so put off by something as fun as bowling.
"I think we should split up couples," Amanda suggested. "Maybe have a battle of the sexes? It'll fit with the bachelor/bachelorette theme of the evening."
No one had any better ideas, so it was settled that it would be the guys on one team and the ladies on the other. From there, they decided to keep it simple and go in alphabetical order, with Amanda and Fin up first. To everyone's surprise, including their own, they both knocked down all of the pins on the first try, earning a strike for both teams.
Liv and Rafa were up next. Ever the gentleman, Rafa let Liv take her shot first and watched as her ball glided down the well-oiled wood of the lane, knocking down several pins. Trying his best to block out his utter distaste of the sport, Rafa took measured steps toward the line, swinging his right arm back, and launched the bowling ball… right into the gutter. Fuck, he hated bowling.
Catching the smirk on Rita's face, he growled, "Not a fucking word, Calhoun."
Rita laughed, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't imagine I will do much better, Barba."
Liv patted his arm encouragingly before taking her place to finish the frame. He admired the grace with which she moved and particularly enjoyed the view of her ass when she bent to throw the ball down the lane. At least there was some silver lining to his embarrassment.
Steeling himself, Rafa shifted his starting position to the left a bit and tried to emulate Liv's smooth movements as he approached the line and let the bowling ball sail through the air and glide down the lane. He was astonished when the ball stayed in the middle of the lane and knocked down all but two pins. Perhaps there was hope for him yet.
"Nice recovery, Barba," Rita teased as Carisi clapped him on the back.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's see what you got, Calhoun," Rafa replied.
The evening continued with the friends ribbing each other and the drinks flowing. Rafa's bowling ability improved during the second game, when he was loosened up by the alcohol and banter. He even managed a couple of strikes, though there were a couple more gutter balls as well. The best bowler was Fin with his score over 200 each game. That was certainly unexpected by the group.
After two games, the group decided they had enough and moved from the lanes to the bar to continue the evening. The drinks were flowing, and Liv was glad they decided to have this night out a few days before the wedding and not the night before. They would all be well and fully hungover in the morning.
"I hate to admit it, but that was actually almost fun," Rafa murmured into Liv's neck. "I don't want to do it again, though."
Liv laughed merrily at her fiancé's reluctant confession. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else you had fun, but I'm glad you did. I love you."
"Te amo, Liv," he replied softly, kissing her forehead and wrapping an arm around her.
"I can't believe you are getting married in a couple days," Rita blurted suddenly. "I honestly never thought I'd see the day."
"Same," Rafa agreed. "But Liv changed my life and now I can't imagine living a single day without her."
"Oh, ew, gross. I don't want to hear the sentimental bullshit from you right now. We'll be getting enough of that on the actual wedding day," Rita complained, though the teasing grin on her face gave her away. She was ecstatically happy for her long-time friend and was looking forward to celebrating their special day with them.
An hour later, the merriment was winding down.
"We should get going," Amanda said as she moved to hug Liv. "The babysitter is probably ready for a break."
"This was a lot of fun, Amanda. Thank you," Liv replied, hugging the blonde tightly.
"Let me know if you need any last-minute help with anything," Amanda said, turning to give Rafa, Fin, and Rita hugs before she and Carisi left.
"That's our cue, as well," Rafa said, placing a hand at Liv's lower back. He shook Fin's hand and placed a quick kiss on Rita's cheek.
"Yeah, I've had enough of slumming it here. Fin and I are going to Forlini's for a night cap," Rita replied. "You two have a good night. We'll see you in a couple of days for the big day!"
Liv and Rafa cuddled in the backseat of an Uber on their way home. "Two more days and you'll be Mrs. Barba," Rafa said, eyes gleaming with adoration.
"I can't wait, Rafa. Though it will be Mrs. Benson-Barba, thank you very much."
He chuckled and pulled her impossibly closer to him. "Whatever you want, mi amor. I just want you to be happy."
"I am, Rafa. Amazingly so," she said, gazing at him, the love shining in her deep brown eyes. They shared increasingly heated kisses the rest of the ride home. They planned to take full advantage of the empty apartment since Noah was having a sleepover at Lucia's.
The night before the wedding, Rafa and Noah left to stay at Lucia's apartment. Though they were forgoing most traditions in this little wedding of theirs, he was a stickler for not seeing her the day of until she met him at the makeshift altar. Liv would have preferred to have her boys at home with her, but she knew it meant a lot to Rafa.
She took advantage of the quiet time and pampered herself with a luxurious lavender scented bubble bath, soothing face mask, and deep conditioning oil for her hair. Candles served as the only lighting in the bathroom and instrumental music played softly from an app on her phone. She emerged from the bath feeling wonderfully relaxed and sleepy. Knowing she would wake early with excitement for their big day, Liv climbed into bed earlier than normal and shot off a good night text to Rafa before slipping into a deep slumber.