The Journey to Papi
Chapter Three
That day in the park definitely marked a turning point for Rafael and Noah as he slowly began to accept Rafael's presence more often. They added dinner once a week at their apartment to their schedule. Dr. Lindstrom had suggested it would be good for Noah to start seeing Rafael in their home. Olivia and Rafael had both worried about how Noah would react to that but it had been an easy transition. Of course it probably helped that Rafael brought dessert every time that he came over.
Noah surprised them both one night after dinner. Rafael was helping Olivia clean up the dishes when Noah came into the kitchen and placed something in his hand, Rafael looked down to see one of the trains he had brought Noah on that first Saturday.
"Rafi want to play trains?" the boy asked him.
Rafael imagined the smile on his face was the same as the one spreading across Olivia's. Not only was it the first time Noah had called him something other than Mr. Barba it was the first time he had initiated an activity with Rafael.
"I would love to Noah, let me finish helping Mommy." He told him.
Olivia smiled at them both, "Go ahead, I've got these."
Rafael nodded and followed him into the playroom dropping down to the floor next to Noah. They played trains for almost an hour, Noah chatting constantly telling Rafael which ones were his favorite and why. Olivia sat down on the couch behind them watching them amazed at the transformation that had taken place. She noticed that it was getting close to Noah's bedtime.
"Noah five more minutes and it's bed time." She told him.
'No, Mommy, I play trains with Rafi." He objected
"Noah, five minutes." She repeated.
"Rafi put me to bed." He insisted.
Rafael looked at Olivia he had never in his life put a child to bed. He had been here a few times when Olivia had put Noah to bed and she seemed to have a routine down.
"Of course Rafi can put you to bed." Olivia said with a smile that Rafael knew meant he was in over his head. Rafael gave Olivia a dubious look but quickly agreed.
"Ok, Amigo, go get your pajamas on and brush your teeth," he told Noah repeating what he had Liv say other times he had been around at bedtime.
"Rafi come too." Noah insisted and Rafael happily complied, scooping the boy up and carrying him down the hall.
"Tell Mommy goodnight." Rafael said,
"Good night Mommy." The boy laughed as Rafael carried him away.
Forty five minutes, two trips to the bathroom, three glasses of water (the first to warm, the second to cold), five books and four songs (Olivia gave him bonus points for the two in Spanish) Rafael returned to the living room looking like a solider returning from battle.
"Do you do that every night?" Rafael asked as he flopped down on the couch next to Olivia who just giggled.
'It gets easier I promise." She said snuggling up to his side and kissing him.
'If you say so.' He said pulling her closer for another kiss smiling when he felt her scoot onto his lap straddling him. He ran his fingers through her hair as he deepened the kiss, she pulled back and looked at him.
"I happen to know that the other member of this family is significantly easier for you to get to bed." She said with a teasing smile.
Rafael smiled back at her, "Only in my bed though."
"Well Counselor, there is a first time for everything." She whispered into his ear, catching her breath as he stood with her legs still wrapped around him and carried her down the hall to her room closing the door with his foot behind him, kissing her all the way.
"Lock it" She muttered and felt him reach back and lock it before placing her on the bed. He leaned down over her kissing her again.
"Do you have any idea how many times I've thought about this?" He asked her.
"Making love to me in my bed instead of yours?" She laughed,
"Oh Beautiful, I could give you a list of the places I've thought about making love to you. Many of them however would cost us our jobs and possibly jail time." He told her.
"Rafael…' she said impatiently moving her hips into him to gain his attention.
"Yes?" He asked with a grin.
"Stop talking." She said as she pulled his head down and kissed him.
Later on it was Olivia's turn to pout as she watched Rafael pull his clothes on. He laughed when he saw the expression on her face.
"See it's not fun being left all alone in the bed is it?" He asked her. "At least you get to come home to Noah. I have to go home alone." He pointed out as he sat back down on the bed.
"You could stay the night." She offered.
Rafael took a breath, "You have no idea how tempting that offer is, but I think before I stay over the first time we should tell Noah that I will be here in the morning, so he's not caught off guard."
Olivia smiled at him, "You're going to be a really good Dad." She said the words coming out before she realized what she had said. Rafael stared at her for a minute unsure what to say.
"I'm sorry Raf, I didn't mean to pressure you." She said shifting nervously on the bed.
"Liv, I never thought I would be a father, but if you give me that opportunity with Noah I promise you I will do the best that I can." He told her before kissing her again.
"So what are we saying here Raf?" She asked hesitantly.
"Liv, we aren't saying anything new here, except that maybe it's time to pick up the pace a little with Noah." He told her attempting to calm her nerves, "Because I for one am a little tired of waking up alone."
'I love you Rafael Barba." She said kissing him one more time before he left.
BarsonBarsonBarson
Rafael began to spend more time at their apartment and eventually one Friday night they told Noah that Rafi would be there when he woke up in the morning. The transitions went smoothly and Noah began to accept Rafael more and more into his life. It was not long before Noah considered Rafi his best friend. One Saturday morning while they were eating breakfast there was an urgent case that Liv was needed for.
"I can call Lucy," She offered.
Rafael stopped her, "I can do this Liv, we will be fine." He assured her.
Olivia was surprised that Rafael and Noah weren't home when she returned close to dinner time but decided to take advantage of the quiet apartment for a few minutes She had just settled down on the couch when she heard the door open and both of them talking.
"Hi Guys." She greeted them both from the couch.
"Mommy!" Noah yelled excitedly climbing the back of the couch to get to her.
"Noah, no we don't climb on the couch like that." She corrected, taking in the sight of him face covered in what appeared to be cotton candy, and the unmistakable smear of ice cream down the front of his shirt. His shirt was new with dinosaurs all over it and said "Natural History Museum". She caught sight of Rafael for the first time and realized he was carrying a stuffed T Rex almost as large as Noah.
"Did we have a good day?" She asked dryly.
"Rafi took me to the history 'seum and saw all the dinosaurs, and we bought one named Bob, and we had ice cream there. Then we stopped at the park, I didn't want to leave so Rafi bought me cotton candy. It was a very good day!" Noah told her happily before running off to play, grabbing his new friend from Rafael as he went. Rafael made his way around the couch and flopped down next to Liv, giving her a quick kiss.
"How is the case?" He asked her.
Olivia shook her head, "It will be there Monday." She said leaning over to kiss him again but was interrupted by a loud crash from Noah's room and they both hoped up to see what was happening.
'Noah?" She yelled as they went.
They found the boy sitting in his rooms having dumped all of his toy bins on the floor.
"Noah what did you do?" She asked and the boy just shrugged. "You have to clean it up.' She told him.
"Nooooooo" He began to cry.
"Come on Amigo I will help you." Rafael told him.
"Rafi clean!" Noah said happily.
Olivia shook her head, "I'm going to make dinner. I have a feeling someone is going to need an early bedtime tonight. "
Olivia made up a quick fettucine alfredo and salad a put it on the table.
'Raf, Noah, dinner is ready." She called. "I made alfredo"
"I don't want alfredo I want a hot dog." Noah protested coming to the table.
"No Noah, we are all having alfredo, I know you like it." Olivia said firmly.
"Hot dog! Hot dog! Hot dog!" Noah yelled.
"Come on Noah, Mommy's alfredo is amazing." Rafael tried,
"Rafi cook hot dog." Noah argued.
Rafael looked like a deer caught in the headlights, "Only if Mommy says yes." He replied nervously.
"Mommy already said no." Olivia almost hissed at him.
Eventually they got the child to the table, he ate a few bites before having a complete meltdown over the chicken in his pasta which resulted in Olivia scooping him up to his room. He cried as she got his pajamas on him and much to Olivia relief fell asleep quickly.
Olivia took a deep breath before leaving Noah's room, realizing it was time to have a very serious conversation with the other adult in her house. She returned to find Rafael had cleaned up the tossed plate along with the other dishes. He was waiting for her in the living room with a glass of wine.
"Rough night." He said.
"Sit" She ordered pointing to the couch.
He raised an eyebrow at her but knew better than to argue with that tone of voice unless absolutely necessary. He sat down on the couch, 'Are you going to join me at least?"
"Raf, I love you and you have been so incredibly patient with Noah and worked harder than I could have ever imagined to build a relationship with him."
"But?" He questioned.
"But, it's time to get past being Noah's friend." She explained flatly.
"I just want him to like me Liv." He told her.
"Raf, we are past the stage of getting him to like you. You have to start putting boundaries for him."
"I put boundaries" He protested.
"You make deals and negotiate Counselor, you do not set boundaries." She countered.
"It works" He said proudly.
"No, Raf it doesn't because then everything becomes a negotiation and sometimes he just needs to leave the park because it's time or eat the alfredo because it's not good to eat hot dogs every night." She explained.
"I'm not sure I know how to do this Liv. I mean it all seems so natural to you." He confessed.
Olivia laughed, "I takes a lot of work Raf, trust me."
"I'm also worried, that I'll turn into my father, I don't want to be anything like him to Noah." He continued and Olivia could hear the pain in his voice. She turned around and faced him.
"Now you listen to me Rafael, you are nothing like your father, especially when it comes to Noah. You are exactly the kind of father I want for him, you just have to learn how to set limits that's part of loving him." She explained gently.
'I'll do my best." Rafael promised still unsure how it would go.
It was only a few days later when Rafael had to try out his new role as boundary setter. Lucy was out of town and Liv had to work late so he had offered to pick Noah up from preschool. The boy was thrilled to see Rafi waiting for him with the rest of the parents and nannies.
"Rafi! ' He yelled running t him and giving him a hug.
"Mrs. Amy this is Rafi my best friend!" he introduced he happily introduced Rafael to his teacher.
Rafael spoke with Mrs. Amy and some other parents before gathering Noah and his bag and heading home.
"Can we go to the park Rafi?" Noah asked
"Not today Amigo, I promised Mommy I would get home and start dinner. The park will have to wait until Saturday." Rafael explained.
"Please, Rafi." Noah asked again.
"Sorry, Amigo, not today." Rafael repeated.
Noah pouted a little but didn't ask again. Rafael thought maybe this boundary thing wouldn't be so hard. When they got home things got a little more difficult, the end of the day was always the hardest with any young child.
"I want a snack Rafi." Noah said as soon as they got home.
"Ok, how about a cheese stick and some apple slices." Rafael suggested
"I want cookies." Noah said
"No, cookies before dinner." Rafael told him knowing how liv felt about that. "Cheese stick and apples?"
"I don't like those and I hungry." Noah whined a little louder.
"You liked them yesterday, Noah." Rafael reminded him rubbing his forehead.
"I'm hungrrrrrrrry." Noah began to cry just as Rafael's phone rang and he knew it was a call he had to take. He quickly handed Noah his cheese stick and apples.
"I have to answer this Noah, please take your snack and you can watch a show on the iPad for a while." He told him as he turned on the iPad and answered his phone walking back to the bedroom, when he saw Noah "accidently" drop his snack on the ground.
Rafael had been on the phone for five minutes when he heard a loud crash from the kitchen, without even walking out he knew what had happened. He excused himself from his phone call, took a deep breath and returned to the kitchen where he found Noah surrounded by the broken cookie jar,
"Noah, don't move." Rafael said calmly not wanting the boy to hurt himself on the broken glass. He picked Noah up and carried him to his room.
'I have to go clean that up Noah, then we will talk about you did." He said depositing the boy on his bed.
"I want the iPad!" Noah yelled.
"No, Noah, no iPad if you don't listen." Rafael told him his patience growing thin.
"Noooooooooo, I want the iPad." The boy began to yell.
"No Noah." Rafael repeated walking out of the boy's room.
"You aren't my best friend anymore." He heard Noah yell as he closed the door.
He was surprised to find Olivia in the kitchen when he returned.
"Rough afternoon?" She asked from where she had already began cleaning up the broken jar.
"Apparently I've lost my best friend." He answered with a tired laugh, "This is hard." He added, "It's easier to be fun Rafi."
Olivia offered him a sympathetic smile, "I know."
Just then they heard a small voice from the hall, "I sorry Rafi."
Olivia nodded for Rafael to go to him and he did picking him up and carrying him to the couch and sitting him in his lap.
"Thank you Noah, are we going to have a better night now?" He asked the boy.
Noah nodded, "Rafi, am I still your amigo?" he asked quietly.
Rafael pulled the boy closer, "Yes, Noah but I have to make sure we follow the rules, do you understand that?"
Noah nodded, "I love you Rafi." He said laying his head back against Rafael's chest.
Rafael wished he could have stopped time right then because other than when Liv had said that she loved him that was the best thing that he had ever heard.
"I love you too Noah, very much." He answered kissing the boy's head as they snuggled onto the couch.
TBC