* I didn't realize how long it had been since I update. Sorry for the delay, but here it is! *

"Hey sarge, what's this all about?" Carisi asked his superior officer as he and the team made their way into her office before they started their day catching rapists and finishing endless paperwork.

"Do you ever do anything besides ask questions, Carisi?" Amanda Rollins shot back at her colleague before the commanding officer could answer.

Fin looked at the pair, laughing to himself. "You two are worse than a couple of five year olds."

"Okay, that's enough from all of you. Noah behaves better with other kids than you do with each other. It's a wonder you even have the ability to work together most of the time." Liv joked with her team.

"Sorry Liv; go ahead and talk, we'll try and be mature." Fin said to her, although the snicker that left him when he turned to look at Amanda and Carisi said otherwise.

Olivia took a deep breath before she spoke. "Alright, so I waited to tell all of you because I wanted to disclose to Chief Dodds first, umm… Barba and I have been seeing each other for the last few months. I'm sure this is weird for all of you; it's a little bit weird for me to be telling you, but you deserve to know. And now Barba is being transferred to another unit because Thomas Yates won't let him keep working with us, well more like he doesn't want him working with me."

"So what does this mean then? We're getting a new DA?" Amanda asked.

Liv nodded in response. "At some point. Yates gave Rafael permission to finish up all of the trials he has begun prepping and then he has to be done."

"Well we've been through plenty of changes in DA's. We'll be fine. I'm just glad you're happy Liv." Fin stood up from where he sat. As much as he tried to put of a tough front, he always cared about Olivia and her life outside of the precinct walls, but he also wasn't ever one to judge.

"Thank you, Fin." The sergeant gave him a pat on the back before he exited the office.

Amanda stood up too, following her partner. "Me too, Liv. You deserve this."

After she left the small room followed by Carisi, it was just Olivia and Nick left, which wasn't surprising. Liv had expected Nick to take the news much differently than his co-workers. "Really? You're dating Rafael Barba?"

"Yes I am, Nick." Olivia told him. "I'm sure you don't like the idea, but it's my life. And while it affects the team in a way, it's not anything for you to worry about."

"I just don't want him to hurt you. I've never known him to have a girlfriend, just makes me wonder why." Nick was always the skeptical.

Olivia sighed. "Nick, he's a busy man. It's not like I've ever had that many boyfriends. Amanda doesn't date, she doesn't bring men home and you don't question her motives and you never would. I get that you don't know Rafael as well, but trust me when I tell you that I am happy and that we are going to try and make us work."

"Okay, Liv. If it's what you want, you deserve to have it." Nick said, although Olivia wasn't completely sure that he was sincere in his response, but it would, for a while, get him out of her hair about her dating life.

As the day carried on, uneventful and filled with paperwork, Olivia found herself watching her office door. She had called Lieutenant Tucker and told him that if he could make a stop by the office, there was something she needed to discuss with him. The man had been surprised to say the least; never had he expected anyone in the Manhattan special victims unit to call and ask to speak to him before he showed up on his own, investigating the most recent scandal. It also made Liv incredibly nervous. She knew that since Chief Dodds had signed off on her dating Rafael, there was nothing Tucker could do to change that, but she knew that by putting it out in the open there was a greater chance of Tucker using any angle he could related to the relationship to screw some investigation or case. Tucker always found a way to ruin things.

It wasn't until the end of the day as Olivia was packing up her laptop and the files she was taking home with her that Tucker finally came waltzing through her office door. "Sorry, I expected to be here earlier."

"I expected you to be her earlier." The comment came out a bit snippier than Liv had expected but it had been a long day and she was no longer in the mood to discuss anything with Tucker.

"Well I can always come back if you need to get going." The offer from the man was made in a rather oppositional way, showing that he was irritated with the sergeant's response.

Olivia stopped herself from rolling her eyes or throwing out another rude comeback. "No, you don't need to make another trip. All that I need to tell you is that Rafael Barba and I are seeing each other. I was just trying to be courteous and let you know before the word got around."

Tucker stared at the sergeant for a moment before he responded. "Rafael Barba? You're dating Rafael Barba?"

"What's so shocking about that?" She asked.

"I'm just a little disappointed. I assumed that you had already learned your lesson when it came to dating DA's. I mean you already got David Haden moved from SVU to another unit because of your relationship and thought obviously didn't turn into anything." Tucker retorted.

Olivia froze at his response. She knew that Tucker had his moments where he was an absolute asshole, but his statement was beyond anything she had ever experienced with him. Liv didn't take much of what Tucker said about her work personally; she knew that she was a good detective and she was doing her job as sergeant. But when it came to her personal life, Olivia was uncomfortable and insecure; she had her fair share of issues. However, she certainly didn't need to hear about it from Tucker, nor did she want to know how much he knew regarding her private life.

"I'm going to pretend like I didn't hear any of that. You know I was just trying to be a little nice, but now I know to never try that again." Olivia grabbed her purse from where she had set it on her desk and charged out of her office, leaving Tucker behind.

When she walked into her apartment after driving angrily home from the precinct, Olivia was immediately greeted by Noah, who came running from the pile of toys he had been playing with to give her a tight hug around her legs.

"Mama home." The little boy's words made her melt and quickly forget her anger.

"Yes mama is home, mister. Where's Reagan?"

"Rae!" Noah didn't quite understand the whole question, only catching on to the fact that his mom was referring to his little sister.

"She's asleep in your room." Rafael, who had been hovering from the kitchen, answered her question. "Noah why don't you show your mom your new toy while I finish dinner?"

"Toy, mama, toy." Rafael knew that Noah wouldn't get anything else from his suggestion but the word toy.

The rest of the family's evening consisted of dinner, play time with both kids after the kitchen had been cleaned, a bath time filled with giggles and a rather wet, soapy bathroom floor, and story time for Noah. It was normal as usual, but completely appreciated by Liv after her day.

"How'd the team take the news today?" Rafael asked Liv as they sat on the couch later, watching a movie after both kids had fallen asleep.

Olivia shrugged her shoulders. "Fin, Amanda, and Carisi were fine. They were upset you'd be leaving, but they don't worry too much about my personal life."

"And Nick?"

"He took it better actually than I expected. He assumed, of course, that you couldn't possibly be the right guy for me and that you weren't my best choice, but I told him that it wasn't his decision, it was mine. He backed off, but I'm sure he'll bring it up again." Liv told him.

"Well then what about Tucker?" Rafael looked at Liv where her head had been lying on his arm shot up.

Just the sound of his name made her mad. "I don't even want to go there."

"What happened?" Rafael questioned her. "What did he say about it?"

"The only thing he could tell me was that he was disappointed in my choice and that I should stop messing with the lives' of DA's." Liv huffed.

Rafael gave her a confused glance. "What does that even mean?"

"Nothing. There was this thing with David Haden before he transferred and I didn't know Tucker knew about it. It was nothing and it went nowhere, but he knew we couldn't work together."

"Liv that's not your fault and neither is my transfer. We are both adults, we are both making the choice to be in this relationship, and we knew their rules, so we're dealing with them." Rafael said.

"So you don't blame me for you having to change units?" That had been half the reason Tucker had angered her so much. She was so worried that Rafael would be upset with her over his transfer because she was the one who wanted to disclose.

"Of course not, Liv." He assured her, a hand resting gently on her knee. "I have to follow the rules. You aren't Thomas Yates, you didn't make me do this."

"Thank you." Olivia said sincerely.

"Now about this disappointment in your choice of a man from Nick and Tucker, I may just have to show you a little something so you don't start believing them." A smirk ran across the face of the district attorney.

With both kids asleep, Liv knew exactly what Rafael was hinting at. "Oh really? I mean, I don't know, it might take a lot of convincing that I picked a good guy."

Rafael gently began to kiss Liv's neck, making the woman's breath hitch in her throat. "I think I may just have to do whatever I can to show you then."

Olivia laughed at their teasing, excited for a little time not filled with a toddler and baby. She found herself shifting in her seat, laying her body across the couch, allowing Rafael to move his own body on top of hers, as they found each other's lips, entangling themselves in each other's extremities.

* Let me know your thoughts. *