The Journey to Papi

Chapter Two

That first Saturday at the park was more difficult than even Liv had anticipated. Noah either completely ignored Rafael or acted out demanding Olivia's attention. The second time he pushed another child Liv finally called it a day. Rafael walked them home a heavy silence between all of them.

She quickly showed Noah to his room and told him she would be back to talk to him in a few minutes.

"I'm so sorry Raf, I thought it would go better than this." She began to apologize and he pulled her into his arms.

"Hey, it's all right, we'll try again. I love you." He told her.

"I'm not sure I know how to help him through this Raf. He has been through so much and is so resistant to new people. I think I will call Dr. Lindstrom on Monday and see if he has any advice." Olivia said.

Rafael nodded and then surprised Olivia, "I wouldn't mind hearing what he has to say too Liv, I mean if you don't mind."

Olivia stared at him speechless, "What?" was all she was able to stammer out.

"I don't' have to Liv, I mean I know that is very personal, I just thought it might help if I heard it too, or maybe if he could tell me a book to read or something like that." Rafael explained talking even more quickly than usual.

"You would do that for me? For Us?" She asked thinking about how she had asked Brian to go to counseling with her after Lewis and he never would.

"Liv, I love you and it is my intention to be a part of your life for a very long time. I fully admit I have no idea what to do with a child but I want to learn, if you trust me enough to be around Noah I want to do the best job I can." He explained.

Olivia nodded tears in her eyes, "OK then I will make an appointment we can both attend."

"I should let you go take care of Noah, tell him goodbye for me ok, and call me tonight." He said before kissing her.

Later that same week they found themselves seated in Dr. Lindstrom's office. He was pleasantly surprised to see Rafael there with Olivia. Olivia had told him about their relationship and he was pleased that Rafael was open to counseling if necessary. Relationships with survivors of the types of trauma that Olivia and Noah had both been through would require support at times. He listened as Olivia told him about the day they had attempted to spend together and Noah's behavior. He commended Olivia for not canceling the plans when Noah objected.

"Noah has to learn that Rafael is a safe person and that will take time and consistency. Setting consistent times he sees you is part of that. Start slow Saturdays afternoons at the park are a great way to start. Noah gets to decide how much he interacts with Rafael but the other expectations for his behavior should be otherwise the same, then you slowly build from there." He explained and Olivia and Rafael both nodded.

"Rafael how is your relationship with your parents?" Dr. Lindstrom asked.

"My Mother and I have always been close, my father passed away when I was in law school." He answered avoiding a full answer drawing a look from Olivia.

"And before he passed away?" Dr. Lindstrom pushed.

"We had not spoken in almost a decade." Rafael admitted, "He was not exactly what one would call warm and nurturing."

Dr. Lindstrom nodded, "It may be a good idea to start dealing with that while you wait for Noah to warm up. Also, I can give you a couple of books to be reading that might help you understand Noah a little more." He advised.

"Do you have time to grab some lunch?" Rafael asked her as they made their way from the office.

Olivia smiled at him, "I took the afternoon off."

He smiled back at her a whipped out his phone quickly hitting Carmen's number, "Hi Carmen, I won't be back in the afternoon, my meeting with Lieutenant Benson is going to take longer than I thought."

BarsonBarsonBarson

A month full of Saturdays went by and improvement was slow. Noah's overall behavior improved after the first outing but he still barley spoke to Rafael, on a good day he would get a hello and goodbye. One day when they were at the park Olivia had gone to use the restroom leaving Rafael to watch Noah. Noah had been playing with a group of other children and noticed that some older kids had come along. He watched as the older kids began to take over the area where Noah and his friends had been playing. He heard the other kids begin to laugh and saw that Noah was upset. He panicked for a moment looking for Olivia. When he didn't see her he went to check on Noah.

"Stupid kid can't even speak right." He heard one of the older boys say as he pushed Noah out of the way and he saw tears forming in Noah's eyes.

"Excuse me is there a problem?" Rafael asked and when the boy didn't answer he repeated himself in Spanish which must have been more intimidating to the boy because he shook his head no, "Do I need to find your parents?" the boy shook his head again. "Good then why don't you and your friends play somewhere else?"

The group of boys ran to another area of the playground and Rafael turned his attention to Noah, "Are you all right Noah?" he asked him.

"I want to go home." Noah said softly, Rafael paused for a minute wishing Liv would get back.

He thought about what he had learned from Dr. Lindstrom and the books he had been reading and he took a deep breath before responding to him, "We can go home if you want Noah, but I hate for those other boys to ruin your fun, would you like to stay a little longer?"

Noah looked at Rafael and then said, "You'll stay with me?" He asked holding out his hand.

"Of course Amigo." Rafael answered his heart beating a little faster as he allowed Noah to lead him across the playground.

Olivia was in shock when she returned and found them playing together on the playground, Noah allowing Rafael to help him across the monkey bars, something he had only let her do before.

"What happened?" She whispered.

"I'll tell you later." He whispered back.

As they walked back towards Olivia and Noah's apartment a little while later Noah surprised them both.

'Mommy, can Mr. Barba stay for dinner?" He asked quietly.

Olivia and Rafael smiled at each other, it was Noah's first step in accepting Rafael into their lives and they would take it.

TBC