* So this took me so much longer to update than I had hoped, but hopefully you all like it and there will be more to come much quicker. *

"I have all the bottles made that she should need today in the fridge, obviously you'll just have to heat them up. If there's some chance that you need more, the formula is in the cabinet with more bottles. Her feeding schedule is right there on the fridge, although it will probably be pretty obvious when she needs it. And of course, you're fine with Noah."

Lucy laughed. "Liv, we'll be just fine."

The mom was returning to work for the first time since her attack and since she had brought Raegan home. She was nervous to say the least, both to return to work knowing that everyone would be wondering how she was handling the aftermath of another terror and also because she was leaving two kids instead of one from now on.

"I'm sorry, I know you will. I just… I guess it's just a mom thing." Olivia chuckled at herself; never did she think that she would be so worried about leaving her child, let alone children.

Liv handed Raegan over to Lucy, who happily took the content baby. The sergeant walked into the living room, stopping first to give Noah a hug and a kiss as he played with his favorite toy truck. The little boy stopped playing to say goodbye to his mama.

"I'll see you at around five thirty, Lucy, I hope." Olivia grabbed her jacket and purse and headed out the door. Although, as soon as she shut the door, she could hear the cries of her son though it. That was always the hardest part, especially now that Noah understood Liv was leaving and that she wouldn't be coming back right away. But it was a sacrifice she had to make and she was starting to come to terms with it. She also hoped that eventually Noah would realize that she will always come home.

Walking into the squad room again was familiar and foreign all at the same time. It had been different for a while from what it was for her first twelve years in the squad and it had been different every time she went through a major life event, William Lewis, her promotion to sergeant, and after she had brought Noah home. However, this time she couldn't quite pinpoint why it was different; Olivia wasn't sure if it was because of the horrible happenings in her apartment or because she had brought home another child. Although, the familiarity was what kept her from completely questioning whether or not she belonged at special victims unit. There wasn't anywhere else Liv could picture herself being.

"Sarge, welcome back." Fin leaned back in his chair, his signature move for as long as Olivia could remember.

"You make it sound like I was gone for the last year Fin." The commanding officer gave him a smirk.

The eldest detective sat up again. "Look it felt like a year with the other guy they saddled us with. You have to stop leaving; I can't handle these new people who think they know what they're doing."

"Okay, I'll try and make sure that no one else gets into my apartment just for you Fin." Olivia rolled her eyes playfully as she headed for her office.

"Oh, Liv, Barba is in there waiting for you. He said he had something he had to discuss with you."

Olivia felt her breath hitch in her throat at the sound of his name. Her body felt rigid as she froze in the place where she stood. She swallowed her confidence in reentering the comfortable office space she had come accustomed to. Why did he have to be there? After their kiss in the hallway of her apartment building, they hadn't seen each other, let alone spoken to each other. Neither of them had known what to say to one and other or how they were supposed to feel about that moment; it wasn't their best choice, as they worked together, but they both didn't completely regret it.

Her feet moved slowly, but Olivia's mind was racing as she pushed through the office door. He stood in the middle of the room behind her desk, a look of discomfort crossing his face.

"Barba." She addressed him by his last name.

The attorney jumped at the sound of her voice, he had been obviously lost in his own thoughts. "Liv, I hope you don't mind that I waited in here for you."

She unloaded her purse and jacket on the rack next to her desk. "No, it's fine." Her answer was short and impersonal.

"I just… I can't…. We have to talk about what happened." Barba had never sounded so flustered.

Olivia sighed. "Look, I know we need to talk, but we can't do this here. I don't need anyone on my team finding out about what happened."

Rafael nodded, agreeing that the sixteenth precinct was too risky a place to have a discussion about their make out sessions. "Alright, that's fine. Do you think you can meet for lunch?"

"Umm… As long as nothing comes up I think I can make it."

"Okay, that's great." The attorney left a couple of case files for Olivia to review, as well, and then left her office none of his worries yet resolved, but at least kept a little more at bay than they had been.

At twelve forty-five, Olivia found herself walking out the doors of the precinct headed west towards a small café six blocks away, where she had agreed to meet Rafael for lunch. Even though she had spent her entire morning hoping for a case to come along, nothing had rolled into the squad room and she was easily able to take an hour's long lunch break, a break she had never wanted less in her life.

The chime on the door, signaling Liv's entrance into the small restaurant, made Barba look up from where he sat to see her searching for him. He waved slightly to get her attentions and the sergeant made her way towards the back where he sat at a table for two.

"Thanks for coming, Liv." Rafael had never been so nervous to have a conversation with anyone. He was the most self-assured man in the courtroom, but this was absolutely out of his element.

Olivia sat down, taking a sip of water from the glass already sitting on the table for her. "Did you order yet?" She was avoiding the topic of conversation that had brought them to their lunch date.

"No, not yet. I was waiting for you."

"Oh okay. Thanks."

There was some silence between them while the two decided what they wanted to eat and ordered their food.

"So… What are we going to do about what happened?" Rafael fidgeted with his hands, avoiding eye contact with Olivia when he asked the inevitable.

"What do you mean what are we going to do about it? There's nothing we can do, we already let it happen." Liv told him.

Rafael sighed. "I know, I know… I guess it's more like what does this mean for us?"

What did it mean for them? They were coworkers, they had known each other for three years, and they had to work together on every case that came through SVU. Was it even a plausible idea for them to have some kind of relationship past a friendship? The problem was Liv knew that the kissed they had shared wasn't forced, it was something they had both wanted, that had to mean something for them.

"I don't know Rafael… Is this really something we want to try?" She answered his question with a question.

Rafael looked at her. "I'm more than willing to give us a try Liv. I think we can make this work."

Olivia let out a shaky breath, she hadn't heard any man, not even Brian, sound so sure about their feelings for her. "Do you really want to, though, Rafael. I have a two year old who still requires so much attention and now a baby in the house who needs even more of my attention. Kids are a lot to take on, especially when you don't have to. And we work together almost every day, are you okay with all the people we work with knowing that we're involved, knowing that we're going home to each other? I mean are you fine with all of that because you we both have to be if this is going to go anywhere."

Rafael sat in his seat for a while contemplating what he had just heard from the woman who sat across from him. "Do you trust me, Olivia?"

"Of course I do." Liv assured him.

"Then trust me when I tell you I want to try this and I want it to work. I get that we work together and we will be working together, hopefully, for a long time. It doesn't bother me that people know we're together or that we're more than friends. That's our business not theirs. And the kids, really? Like I wouldn't be thrilled to spend more time with them. I know what comes with a relationship with you Liv and I want all of it."

"Rafael…" Olivia didn't know what to say to him. She had never been good at the whole relationship thing. Her job was the only relationship she had really had and kept for almost fourteen years before she had given Brian Cassidy a shot and that hadn't worked out. For Liv, too, being a mom had been more important to her than being someone's wife; it would always be her number one priority. But there was something so enticing about a relationship with someone other than a two year old or two month old and she felt that Rafael had nothing but good intentions, something she wasn't sure she had ever felt with a man. "That means… it means a lot."

"So… does this mean…?" the district attorney searched for an answer.

"I'm willing to try this Rafael." Olivia let the words leave her mouth without reservation. Anything she was worried about wasn't important right now. In that moment it was time for both of them to take a chance on something that once seemed so unexpected.

* All the reviews on the last couple of chapters have been great; keep them coming please! *