His plane was scheduled to get in at 9:30 at night. Well past Noah's bedtime and late for Olivia to be out when she had court in the morning, so they'd decided he'd Uber home and join them for breakfast if his jet lag allowed.
That was the plan set earlier in the week, anyway. But as that final day wore on, Barba had decided on an alternative that involved him going straight to their apartment and potentially never leaving.
Olivia had an alternate plan as well, and Lucy was prepared to stay over with Noah so she could surprise Barba at the airport.
Noah's plan ultimately won out. His big beautiful eyes and long lashes and cute dimples had carried their weight, but ultimately it was his choice to forgo whining and pleading in response to her first "no" that saw her giving in, as he instead simply crawled on her lap and said, in his most sincere and genuine voice, "Please, mommy?" before wrapping his little arms around her neck in a tight hug.
And so by 9:20 p.m. the Bensons had taken over a bench in the baggage claim area, Noah in a hooded sweater and a pair of Thomas the Tank Engine pajama pants which had been a concession in the negotiations he'd had no trouble with. Olivia of course had demanded it from the practical standpoint of wanting him to go right to bed when they got home. Noah just loved wearing his PJs in public.
Noah was busy working on a "Welcome home Rafa" sign using the supplies Olivia had brought with them. He was chattering away as he worked, keyed up by the late hour and the excitement. He didn't seem to notice or care that his mother was too distracted to follow along.
She was so distracted she didn't even realize Barba had entered the room, not until Noah caught sight of him and took off running to meet him, the sign he'd been making fluttering to the floor, forgotten and left behind. Olivia would scold him later. Currently she had other things on her mind.
By the time she caught up, Barba's carry-on luggage was on the floor and Noah was in his arms. Barba's smile was beautific, growing all the more so when their eyes met. He shifted Noah to his hip and as she approached he reached for her hand.
Olivia had other ideas, her hands going to his face instead as she pressed her lips to his.
It wasn't passionate or heated; her son was right there, after all, though oblivious with his eyes effectively hidden in Barba's shoulder. Nor had it been planned. Whatever thoughts or ideas she may have entertained during his absence, she had not come there intending to lay the proverbial cards on the table in the middle of the airport.
But that was definitely what she had done, was doing, planned or not. No one watching would mistake this kiss as platonic, and Barba hadn't either. The brief foray of his tongue into her mouth before he came to his senses confirmed that well enough.
And when they separated and with a small, shy smile she said, "Surprise!" and he wasn't sure if she was referring to them being there to meet him or to the quality of her welcome, he quickly realized with a settled, grounding certainty that he was surprised by neither.
Later he would reflect that in some ways it had seemed like such a long journey for them to finally arrive there, as though it had been years in the making. In other ways, though, in ways he connected with the most, it was all so new. It had only been a few months since he had left the DA's office and they were free to see a romantic relationship as a possibility. And it had only been six weeks since he'd been unable to consider anything but.
The reflection had come later because there was no time just then for such an indulgence. The adults noticed almost simultaneously that Noah's body was shaking, and their attention shifted to his well-being when they figured out he was silently sobbing.
This was unexpected. Noah had seemed to have done amazingly well handling Barba's absence, helped along by their daily bedtime routine. This rather violent release of tension and anxiety that likely even Noah hadn't realized he was harbouring was profoundly touching, and if Barba hadn't already been rendered speechless by Olivia's greeting he certainly would have been speechless now.
She also seemed to be having trouble finding her voice, and so few words beyond basic small talk were exchanged as they waited for his luggage to round the carousel except for Noah's rather pitiful request that he go home with Barba that night, which was immediately agreed to. By the time they were on the road toward Manhattan Noah was back to talking a mile a minute and the adults could barely get a word in edgewise, which was fine with them.
That's not to say where was no communication between them. The looks exchanged said plenty, as did the solid weight of his hand on her thigh as she drove.
There was one chapter of the book left; they'd actually skipped the night before so that they could finish it up when they were physically together. As the boys got comfortable under the covers of Barba's bed with the stuffed elephant retrieved from a suitcase squished between them, Olivia used Barba's phone to snap a picture and post it to Eddie's Instagram feed, both to mark the moment and as a way of letting Barba's new friends know that he'd arrived home safe and sound.
Olivia joined them, laying atop the covers as the book was completed and discussed and Noah eventually drifted off, content to be a spectator. Content especially because it allowed her to bide her time. She had no idea what to say, how to start, when words between them were finally required.
Thankfully Barba had the wherewithal to kick things off, though his self-deprecating half-smirk revealed he was in the weeds along with her. "So. The whole 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' thing..."
"I know. Potent stuff."
"It's witchcraft is what it is. I didn't even make it onto the plane."
His confession soothed her in its implication that she hadn't been alone in her change of thinking while he was gone, that his reaction at the airport hadn't been a knee-jerk one. Her smile wasn't exactly confident, but it was bright. Radiant. "So. What now?"
"Well... I'm honestly not sure." And by that he meant not sure what HER wants, HER intentions were. He'd spent the last weeks settling his own.
"Shit." Olivia rarely cursed, but a glance at the clock behind him had drawn it out of her unfiltered. "Is it really after 11? I told Stone I'd meet him at 7:45 - I'm on the stand at 9 if nothing changes."
"You hate early morning prep," he pointed out needlessly.
"Yeah, he wanted to prep tonight, but I had somewhere else I wanted to be."
He grinned smugly. "You're welcome to stay. I can take the couch."
"If I was going to stay, no one would be on the couch, dummy," she chided fondly as she crawled from the bed and got to her feet. "But the last thing that anyone needs is for us to lose this case because you didn't let me get any sleep."
There was so much to unpack there, but he let it drop. It took him longer to extract himself from Noah's grip and untangle himself from the covers without waking the boy, and by the time he caught up with her she was crouched by door tying her shoes.
As soon as she stood she stepped into his space, hands settling low on his hips. "I'll drop off a bag for Noah on my way to work. Can you get him to school or should I call Lucy?"
"Got it covered," he told her, his own hands adjusting the collar of her jacket before going to her waist.
"It's okay if he's late, if you or he want to sleep in a bit."
"I may take you up on that." Jet lag was going to be a bitch.
"Okay. Noah and Lucy went grocery shopping for you earlier today, so you should have lots to make his lunch."
"Wait, is Thursday still pizza day at his school?"
"Yeah, you're right. Though he was sassy with me earlier this week and I think I included the loss of pizza day privileges in the punishment package."
"What do you say we give him a pass based on circumstances."
"Okay, but just this once."
The most common and domestic of conversations. Like nothing had changed.
Nothing except the distance between them, which was very, very little.
One or both of them might have attempted to steal a kiss, but they opted instead to hold each other, a tight and lingering embrace. And when she finally broke away with some difficulty he didn't tell her he loved her, even though it had become a careless part of their conversation over the last weeks. She too held her tongue, though her affection for him, her happiness that he had returned, and something new, something more, was almost tangible in the way she looked at him.
As he closed the door behind her, he caught sight of his own dopey, love-sick expression reflected in the small mirror in his hallway. Though much was left unsaid, he was grateful that it appeared they had arrived there together, because there would have been no hiding his feelings from her. And he was grateful they no longer had to worry about conflict of interest, because he was convinced that one look at them both and everyone was going to know.