SUUUUPER SHORT AND SHITTY BECAUSE IT'S MERELY A BRIDGE TO PART 2!
Part 2 of this is where they actually have a deep conversation about what happened (there are going to be multiple obstacles in prosecuting Joe, the first one will be revealed next chapter). Later in the series, the second reveal will be super case-fucking btw, and I can't wait! Anyway, I figured that this should just be all fluff because you guys need a break from all the trauma talk too.
Sorry this one was short, but I was so anxious to start writing part 2 that I skipped writing this for a bit and worked on next chapter (already a third of the way finished). This is just kind of filler, but I like it for the teasing and whatnot.
Day 4: Olivia's Apartment, 7 PM.
Olivia, after dressing Noah, tidied up the living room in preparation for her sudden visitors. Amanda had called a couple of hours earlier, requesting to come over for dessert, and Olivia – who was eager to resume any sense of normalcy – accepted their self-invitation with open arms. However, Rafael and Liv didn't know exactly why they had pressed the issue. Nevertheless, Rafael had started his mother's favorite tres leches cake – they stopped for groceries on their way back from The Battery – and Olivia put away a multitude of toddler toys.
An hour later, Amanda and Sonny shuffled into the apartment's cramped entrance area with a small commotion. The new mother was grateful that the babysitter had pulled through at the last moment, but secretly missed her newborn. By the time she stopped thinking and removed her coat, everyone else had settled in and the delicious smell of cake wafted into the living room.
Amanda sat down on the couch while her fellow visitor sat on floor near Noah's toys, hoping that the hilarious toddler would come over and play. "What is Barba making?", she asked curiously to break the small amount of what-do-we-talk-about tension.
"We makin' cake!" The sound of Noah's exclamation rang through the apartment and Olivia issued a gentle warning to calm down. Eventually, Noah's voice lowered as he unintelligibly explained the cake-making process from Olivia's lap.
"Woah," Sonny said in exaggerated awe even though he only understood a couple of words, "That's awesome. Did you help?"
"He need my help breakin' eggs." Noah wriggled out of his mother's grasp so he could stand on the couch and carefully observe Rafael cooking. "They show me how but I had get in baff cause I made a mess!"
Olivia snatched her son and tickled him. "You made such a big mess! You got flour everywhere!"
"Not my fault. Raffle clapped my hands togever and den you said that if your boys kept misbehavin', then we not get to eat the cake!"
Amanda and Sonny made eye contact and mischievously grinned at each other. When Sonny looked back and forth at the suspected couple and made an obscene gesture with his hands, Amanda made some chuckling noises that she couldn't contain. When she finally lowered her hand, which was covering her mouth as she tried to hide her smirking, the blonde woman met the gaze of her boss.
Olivia's failed attempts to suppress her amused smile told Sonny that it was okay to lightly press the issue. "So... how long has Raffle been your boy?", he teased, "Because I need to know who won our bet." Despite his amusement, Sonny couldn't look at Olivia for too long. He built another tower out of blocks instead of thinking about his boss's scars.
"I did," Amanda immediately chimed in, the entertainment in her voice could be clearly heard. "I knew you had a thing for lawyers. Figured something would happen sooner rather than later."
Olivia blushed but couldn't come up with a snarky rebuttal in time. After all, they were right. When Rafael dominated the court room with a powerful closing argument, she sat a little taller in her spectator seating. When the foreman read back a verdict of "guilty", they stole proud glances across the courtroom, mentally congratulating each other for all their hard work. It was an efficient dynamic and a careful dance, like they were speaking a language that no one else understood.
Olivia struggled to put her thoughts into words but needed to let the detectives know the status of their relationship. "We aren't really... together. I mean, we are kind of, but... we're on hold. It's complicated."
Sonny sensed her brief vulnerability and decided not to explore it in favor of resuming their lighthearted banter. "Well, Lieu, if you wait until next year to make it official, I win the bet. So..."
Amanda chuckled. "It's not even August!"
Olivia laughed, but secretly knew that it might take that long for the relationship to develop beyond the current status quo, if not longer. She felt peace, though, in the fact that Rafael expressed his unwavering approval at the arrangement. "Just out of curiosity, when did Fin predict... something would happen?"
Sonny quickly responded. "He figured that you two were going to dance around your feelings for at least another two years."
"Yeah," Amanda continued, "but he swore that if it took longer than that, he was going to either suffocate from the sexual tension or lock you both in a room together."
The thought of sex, and the vulnerability of having her private life inspected, was okay for a bit but was starting to encroach on her positive mood. So, she quickly changed the subject. "How is Jesse?"
Amanda smiled warmly. "She's about as good as any infant can be. It'll be a long time before my sleep schedule goes back to normal, but she's adorable."
Olivia felt Noah push on her shoulder – the boy was too well behaved to speak over the adults but desperately wanted to play with his new visitors – but didn't turn to face Noah quite yet. "Speaking of kids..."
"Hiiii mommy!"
"Hi, Noah. What would you like, love?"
"I pay wiff Uncle Keesy. I be Chase and he be Rubble!"
Sonny looked to Olivia, confused. Before she could explain, Rafael casually cut in from the kitchen; his voice was steady and robotic as he focused on perfectly icing the cake. "He's talking about his Paw Patrol figures in his toy chest. Chase is the German Shepard and Rubble is the one with the yellow vest."
Amanda turned to look at Sonny, but he was too busy removing the identified toys from the overcrowded bin. Unexpectedly, Olivia was surprised too. After all, Rafael had only spent a couple of days with the boy, but he already knew the characters of Noah's favorite show by name and appearance. Olivia couldn't help but smile at the thought that Rafael was taking the time to get to know her son and wasn't just interested in only her.
Rafael's voice interrupted their collective thoughts. "Noah? Dessert is ready, conejito. Would you like to help me serve it?"
"Yes!" Noah slid off the couch and ran over to Rafael while the older man wondered how the little boy could be this excited about something as trivial as cutting a cake.
After all, everybody in the room was grateful for the chance to resume daily life, even if for only a couple of hours.
Day 4: Olivia's Apartment, 8 PM.
After all the excitement and commotion of tonight's guests, Noah succumbed to exhaustion on the couch and Olivia took a picture of his awkward sleeping position. Internally grateful that their long bedtime routine could be overlooked just this once, Liv carefully laid the boy in his bed with a kiss.
Now that the apartment was quiet and Noah was in bed, the original mission of their presence began to reappear in the minds of both detectives. They tried not to shift in their seats when Olivia came back into the living room, but the heavy topic weighed down the positive atmosphere. They were both well aware that their promise to Fin was not something to be taken lightly, but were hesitant to disrupt Olivia's sense of peace. To make matters worse, the events of previous days were getting harder and harder for Sonny to repel, and he felt a keen sense of guilt for being so caught up on something that he shouldn't be this bothered by. Amanda noticed this, though, and put her hand on his forearm.
Luckily, it was Olivia herself that broke the ice. "Can I ask you guys something?" She waited for their nods of approval. "I don't mean to be rude, and tonight was fun... but, uh, why were you guys so adamant about meeting tonight?"
Amanda and Sonny exchanged glances, unaware of which one should talk first. Sonny took the lead this time and set his plate down on the coffee table.
"We... uh... we need to talk. It's about the case."
