Part VIII

Around 3 am Olivia wakes up to find herself alone in bed. Her thoughts are muddled with sleep. Had the entire thing been a dream? Her half-awake mind realizes she's still completely naked. Right. So not a dream.

But he's gone. Shit.

They both knew it might be a mistake but she'd thought things went well. What made him leave?

She sits up to go check on Noah and sees the aftermath of the night before. His clothes, and hers, are still strewn across the floor of her bedroom. He's still here.

She stands and pulls on her underwear and his dress shirt before padding out to the hall. The moment she exits the room she hears soft singing from Noah's room. Olivia makes her way down the hall and peers in through the cracked door. Barba sits in a rocking chair in the corner in only his boxers and undershirt with Noah sprawled across his chest. He rocks back and forth while making small circles on Noah's back and singing a lullaby in Spanish.

This was no mistake. This is exactly where they both belonged. She'd spent so long chasing happiness- and now- with Noah and Barba, she could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. She had loved, in some cases still loved, other men. But not like this. He was like no other man she'd ever found herself drawn to. It wasn't just his wit and passion, his sharp tongue and his dapper suits. It was the honesty. They could tell each other anything- could read each other like a book. It was the respect. They weren't afraid of standing up to each other but took every word the other said into consideration. They didn't have to agree with each other to be happy with each other- because they both recognized the disagreement as a sign of the thing they loved most about each other- passion for everything they did.

Not wanting to interrupt their quiet moment quite yet, Olivia makes her way to the bathroom. When she returns, she finds that Barba has joined her son in sleep. He snores softly, his hands resting protectively on Noah's back.

She walks over and places a hand on his before leaning down to kiss his temple. The corners of his mouth twitch up in a small smile before his eyes flutter open. "Think his arm woke him up" ,he says sleepily.

She gives them both a loving smile, "Come back to bed."

Barba looks down at the sleeping toddler. "It's ok, he's comfortable"

Liv sees through Barba's justification. 'There's nothing better than a sleeping baby snuggled against your chest.' "He can come too. He ends up in bed with me this time every night anyway."

Barba gives him one of his half grins. She knows him too well. Though, if she tells the squad he nearly chose a snuggly two year old over going back to bed with her, he may have to kill her. How could he be this attached to a person that couldn't yet string together a complete sentence? At first he'd taken it as a byproduct of his attachment to Olivia. The source of her happiness making him happy. But if that was where it had started- it had certainly evolved. They had become his happiness. He'd been happy before. His job- being the hotshot ADA, always being the smartest guy in the room- had been enough. But it didn't rival what he'd found here with them. It was incredible. And terrifying. He had complete control over his life if his job was all he needed. But now he needed other people- two other people- who could make their own decisions. Who might eventually break his heart. After last night though, after the past couple weeks, he figured it was worth the risk.

He picks up Noah and follows Olivia quietly back to bed. Barba lays Noah in the center of the bed and he and Olivia crawl in on either side of him. Propped on their elbows, facing each other they both stare down at him for a moment and then look to each other. They lean in for quick kiss before lieing back down and snuggling into each other.

Three hours later, Barba wakes because of a heavy weight on his chest. He opens his eyes slowly to find a tiny face staring back at him. He starts and then grins, his sleepy brain finally working out where he is, "Noah, que paso?"

Noah places his tiny hands on either side of Barba's face and gets very close. He's excited to find his friend still here. "Raf!"

Barba grins and immediately begins tickling the toddler- rolling him onto the bed beside him. The boy lets out a squeal and Barba, noticing Liv still sleeping beside them, brings a finger to his lips. "Shh, Mami's still sleeping" Noah wide-eyed brings a finger to his own lips, mimicking Barba.

Barba grins and look over to the alarm clock, "Shit!"

"Shit" ,Noah repeats.

Barba looks at the boy, defeated, "Shit." Of course, he'd repeat that. Maybe that'd be the only time. He returns to the original problem. They're running late. He plants a small kiss on Olivia's forehead and then gives her a gentle shake. "Liv, Liv we've gotta get up." Olivia's eyes start to flutter open. "We have a deposition in an hour."

Her eyes snap open just as Noah decides to share his new vocabulary word by screaming it into her face, "Shiiiit!"

Olivia cuts her eyes to Barba who looks like he's about to come out of his skin. He speaks slowly- as if speaking to a bear he's trying to convince not to eat him. "Now don't get mad, I heard on NPR, if we don't acknowledge it, he'll stop saying it."

Olivia glares at him and sighs. "I'll make some coffee, you hop in the shower first so you have time to go get dressed."

Both Olivia and Barba spring into action. As he rushes around the apartment getting ready and trying to help with Noah before running out the door to his own apartment, Barba suddenly realizes that this may be his new normal. And he loves it.

*Alright everyone, that's the final chapter for this story. I will most likely be returning to this universe to expand upon this story in the near future- so look out for that, if you're interested. Just need to figure out what part of the story I want to tell next. Hope you all liked this one! Thanks for all the feedback!