The next morning- Barba has just managed to get Noah dressed when Lucy walks through the door. He hands off Noah and pours himself a cup of coffee, "Hey- Liv's still not feeling well, she's going to the doctor this afternoon but maybe take him to the park or something this morning? It'd be good if she could get some rest."

Lucy nods but responds with a bit of trepidation, "Did she mention-? I have an interview this afternoon- I told her I could only keep Noah until 3. Is that-"

Barba looks up from his coffee, mentally combing through his workday, "Oh- yeah, just- um- I guess, bring him by my office. You know where it is?"

Lucy nods and Barba heads back to their bedroom with a glass of water.

He finds Olivia lying in bed, sleepily watching the morning news. He deposits the water on the nightstand, "Can I get you anything before I go?" Olivia gives him a weak smiles and shakes her head. "K. Lucy's got Noah. Dr. Walker said she can see you at 1."

Olivia nods, "Thanks."

Barba looks at her with concern. "Want me to meet you there?"

Olivia brings her eyes up to his and takes his hand, "Rafi, it's nothing. We're just making sure, OK?"

Barba gives her an unconvincing nod before leaning in and kissing her forehead, "OK, see you when I get home. Love you."

"Love you, too."

With the trial three days out, Barba does his best to concentrate on the work in front of him but the more the day stretches on the more anxious he gets.

He's always been a tightly wound ball of nerves but a meticulous, calculated, confident ball of nerves. Except when it came to people he loved. He was great in a crisis unless it involved his mother, Liv or Noah- especially when he didn't know exactly what the crisis entailed. His ability to play out multiple scenarios in his head like a chessmaster worked against him when he was waiting for news.

When he texts Liv at 2:30 to see how the appointment went and she replies with "We'll talk when you get home." It only adds fuel to the fire. He attempts to call her but just as he does Lucy arrives with Noah in tow.

He hangs up the phone and takes Noah. He gets the briefing on what Noah's eaten and how long his nap was before he thanks Lucy and she heads out. Noah being there momentarily calms Barba down. Maybe a realization in the back of his mind that he and Noah are in this together. He settles Noah in one of the oversized chairs at his round table.

"Alright, Compay. Que tenemos? Quieres colorear?" Barba pulls out some crayons and a coloring book that he keeps stashed on his bookshelf.

Just as he gets Noah settled with his crayons and a snack, Buchanan walks in for their 3:30 meeting. Rollins is right behind him. Barba stands and walks back behind his desk. Amanda comes to stand beside him.

"Counselor, I understand you think you have something for me."

Barba motions for him to take a seat, Buchanan just rocks back on his heels and smiles across the desk. "He'll plea to endangering the welfare of a child, he's willing to serve a year plus 5 years probation plus anger management"

Barba settles into his seat and lets out a self-satisfied huff, "A misdemeanor? Counselor, your client beat his own son within an inch of his life."

Rollins jumps in, "And we have credible witnesses."

Buchanan continues with a smarmy grin, "This was a one time thing, Barba, the boy fully recovered. He's the only family member the kid has left. He lost his temper one time- give the man a break."

"You really going to make that argument with my son sitting 5 feet away from you?" Barba's stomach does a flip-flop, he hadn't meant to call Noah his son- it'd just slipped out. He'll blame it on stress for now.

Buchanan's eyebrows shoot up- his grin growing wider, "Oh, he's your son now too, huh? Can anyone just claim him when they want to make a point?"

Barba's chin lowers, his jaw tightens and he stares Buchanan down. He's not sure whether Buchanan is taking a jab at Olivia or comparing him to Johnny D, but either way he's pissed.

He musters an angry grin and spits out, "No deal, Counselor. I'll see you in court Thursday."

Buchanan realizes he's crossed a line and looks as if he may try to back track when Barba interjects again. "Don't worry, there was no deal before the crack about Noah either. I've planned on Mr. Adams going to prison for a very long time since the moment the case came across my desk."

Buchanan can sense that it's over, he nods, "See you in court, Counselor." He turns on heel and is out the door in a flash.

Once Buchanan is gone, Rollins lets out a heavy sigh. "I don't know how he does it."

Barba responds with a quirk of his eyebrow as he stands and walks over to sit beside Noah. He shuffles through a file while looking over at Noah's haphazard coloring. He points to a dog on the page, "What's that, buddy?"

Noah looks up and smiles at him, "Dog." Noah scrunches his nose at Barba, "Ruf, ruf, ruf!"

Barba grins at him and then turns his attention back to Rollins, "Alright, I want to prep Mrs. Henderson's testimony tomorrow morning- she's available?"

Rollins nods and comes to sit on the other side of Noah. She picks up a crayon and helps him color. "Yep, 9am OK?"

Barba cast a sideways glance at her, he's not sure, that really depends on what Liv has to tell him tonight. "Let make it 10."

Rollins can see the tension he's holding, "How's Liv feeling?"

Barba doesn't look up from the file, "She fine. She went to the doctor this afternoon. I'm sure it's fine." He looks up at Rollins and attempts to make light of the situation, "She can't leave me yet, we're about to start potty training. And don't know what to do with that." He grins and cast a sideways glance at Noah. Rollins chuckles

His attempt to lighten the mood only serves to make his worry more real though. His expression drops inperceptibly as he considers the very real possibility that something is wrong. Barba looks over to meet Amanda's eyes, suddenly serious again, "They probably have books on that though right?"

Rollins shifts uncomfortably but nods. Barba's problem was that the only way he knew how to deal with anything was logic. When a crisis occurred he'd go in to "fix it" mode- and that's exactly where he found himself right now.

He holds up a hand and stands, "Can you excuse me a minute?" He makes his way to his office door. Rollins can hear him speaking urgently to his assistant.

"Do you think you could do some research? Find the best potty training books and have them delivered?"

Amanda grins and drops her head in attempt to stifle a laugh. Barba in panic mode always cracked her up- though she sincerely hoped nothing was really wrong with Liv.