Barba had witnessed both Olivia and Lucy carry out what was apparently the preferred discipline regimen more than once, and had always been amazed by how calm they generally remained, often in the face of Noah having a total meltdown.
And yet when Barba finally found himself alone with a first sassy, then defiant, then literally kicking-and-screaming kindergartener, he was surprised that he too managed to keep a level head as he did his best to follow the examples he'd filed away out of interest without it ever quite occurring to him that he might someday be called upon to enact the ritual.
When Olivia arrived home around 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, her first day back at work after their vacation, she found Barba reclined and reading on the couch, surrounded by scattered toys. This was unusual. Especially since he'd left the DA's office Barba enjoyed helping Olivia come home to a tidy house.
"Hey, you," she greeted, not quite able to keep the curiosity out of her voice. "Where's Noah?"
"In his room. He needed some cool down time." He set his phone on the coffee table. "Did you eat?"
"I grabbed something earlier." She glanced down the hallway and saw the egg timer just outside Noah's door. "I need to hop in the shower. How much time does he have left?" She was trying to draw out the details, inferring she could take over, feeling bad that he'd been stuck with her misbehaving child.
"Not long. But go take your shower; I've got it covered."
Olivia hesitated. It hadn't surprised her that Noah was having a bad day, suspecting that the reason he might be acting out was that the night before, after an afternoon and evening of adventuring, they'd broken the news to him about Barba's impending absence. And so she wondered if some extra intervention and understanding would be required. Noah had seemed to take it well then, but he'd had almost 24 hours to mull and process now. This type of reaction would fit his pattern to a T, and Barba wouldn't necessarily be aware of that dynamic.
In the end, Barba's nonchalance and relaxed smile convinced her to head to her room, but when she heard the "ding" from the timer, heard Noah's door open and his soft footfalls headed toward the living room, she couldn't help herself.
"Hi, Noah. Feeling better? Ready to talk through this?"
Olivia stood just out of sight and listened to Barba have a calm discussion with Noah about what factors and feelings had led to the meltdown, and what they could do differently next time to avoid it. Then she heard a genuine apology, words of affection exchanged, and an agreement that they should pick up his toys together so that when Liv got out of the shower she'd be happy to have a clean house.
Her heart was full as she snuck to the bathroom. But it ached more than a little as it finally began to set in she wouldn't be privy to these special moments for the 6 weeks he was gone.
"Hi, mommy!" Noah greeted her brightly when she finally joined them.
"Hi, sweet boy. Everything okay out here?"
"Yup. Wanna play Go Fish with me and Rafa?"
"That sounds like a great idea. You go find your cards and we'll clean off the coffee table."
When Noah ran to his room, Olivia took the time to hug Barba tightly. "When did we start coparenting?" she asked into his shoulder.
"Enjoy it while it lasts. You'll be single-momming it again soon enough."
"Don't remind me." Five days to go.
Five days that might as well have been two for the amount of time the three of them got to spend together, with things going crazy at the precinct and Olivia having to work long hours to stay on top of it all.
Barba and Noah, however, were finding lots of time to keep connected. Barba had worked it out with Lucy that he would pick Noah up from school for the rest of the week, then she would arrive just after bedtime to hold down the fort until Olivia arrived home, which led to two all-nighters that made up for the hours Lucy had missed: On Thursday night it was so late that she'd had to stay over and had taken Noah to school in the morning to let Olivia sleep in, and on Friday night Olivia hadn't made it home at all, falling asleep on the couch in her office just after 11 and sleeping through to a callout from the hospital around 7.
By mid-Saturday afternoon she'd been granted a reprieve when Fin sent her home for the rest of the weekend. She'd made it through the supper that the boys took great pleasure in making her, but she'd nodded off on the couch before even Noah's bedtime, and barely remembered Barba tucking her into bed.
She'd awakened the next morning feeling rested, finally, and determined that their final day together before Barba's departure would not be wasted. But then things rarely went as planned.
"Hey, I just got called in. I'm going to have to renege on our afternoon."
Olivia had done nothing to hide the disappointment in her voice, and Barba decided not to make things worse by commiserating. "Have you called Lucy yet?"
"I was just about to."
"Don't bother. Noah can hang out with me."
"I CAN?"
Apparently he was on speaker phone.
"If your mom says it's okay, of course you can!" Barba was a little confused as to why Noah would ever assume otherwise, especially since they'd spent so much time together the last few days. But the mystery was solved in Noah's next proclamation.
"But it's Sunday! You and YOUR mom are having brunch!"
Noah had somehow gotten the idea that brunch was a very grown-up, sophisticated activity. No one was quite sure where he'd picked that up, but he and Liv had playfully built on it.
"So you'll just have to have brunch with us! We're going somewhere nice, though, so you'll need to wear a tie," he teased. "Do you have a tie?"
"I'm not sure. Mom, do I have a tie?"
"Somewhere, but we don't have time to look for it, I'm afraid."
"But I need it for brunch!"
"No worries, little man," Barba soothed affectionately. "You can wear one of mine."
There was that full, aching heart again, trying to lodge itself in Olivia's throat as she and Barba worked out the details.
When Barba arrived at the precinct, Noah was sitting on Carisi's desk laughing at the detective's antics.
Carisi spotted Barba first. "Hey, Counselor! This is a surprise!" It was; Olivia had merely asked Carisi to keep on eye on Noah until the boy was picked up, and so he'd been expecting Lucy. "Long time no see!"
"Hey, Sonny," Barba greeted simply, smiling as Noah ran to him and not noticing Carisi's reaction to his use of his nickname. He also hadn't noticed his own slip, as it had become second nature to refer to the younger man as "Sonny" or "Uncle Sonny" when Noah would often bring him up.
Noah stuck his hand in Barba's sport jacket pocket. "Did you bring me a tie? And where's YOUR tie?"
"I brought two - one for me and one for you! You can choose which one you like best."
One was classy and boring. The other was loud and fun and ridiculous. He'd been sure that Noah would choose the latter, but that plan backfired when Noah was insistent that Barba wear the fun one. They were in the middle of a lesson on constructing a proper windsor knot when Noah's stomach growled loudly enough for Carisi to hear from his desk, where he'd been watching the proceedings silently and with great interest.
"Sounds like someone needs a snack. Shall we see what I have?" Carisi always seemed to have food in his desk he was willing to share with Noah. "Hmmm, these might be too sour for you, sport," he warned, pulling out a bag of sour key rings. "But only the sugary part on top. After that, it's just like a gummy worm."
Noah looked at Barba for direction.
"You can try one if you like," he encouraged.
Noah's reaction to the tiniest taste was priceless, making the men laugh in delight. Noah held the offending candy out to Barba. "Can you suck the sour off first?"
"Sure, buddy," he agreed, popping it into his mouth to dissolve most of the sugar before handing it back to him. While wearing the loud, ridiculous tie.
Carisi's brain had nearly reached a saturation point of inputs he just couldn't process, and he was almost relieved when a text came to summon him into the interrogation room as soon as he could get there. He reached out to ruffle Noah's hair. "Sorry, Noah. Your mom needs me to go help her catch the bad guys."
"That's okay, uncle Sonny. Rafa and I are having brunch with abuelita soon! Is it time to go?"
And that did Carisi in. He could only smile and wave dumbly as Barba and Noah said goodbye and walked off together hand in hand.
A uniformed officer, newer to the precinct and unaware of much of the team's history, greeted Noah as she passed by and into the bullpen. "Is that Noah's dad?" she asked Carisi offhandedly after nodding a hello.
"Nope, just a friend of the Lieutenant's," Carisi told her automatically, simply, but internally he wondered if that status changed. He for one was all for it, and not just because he valued Olivia's happiness. In his opinion, every little boy needed and deserved a father or father-figure in their life. And after all he'd just witnessed, after the little glimpses he'd seen in the past, he believed Barba - Barba! Who would've thought! - would do just fine.