Chapter 14
"Want to talk about it?"
Closing her eyes, she lets her head fall back on the head rest. "My first bust, Patrick was upstairs securing two dealers. I was downstairs arresting the third by myself in another room. There was a pile of cash, a pile of drugs...the perp accuses me of stealing it-"
"-Obviously, you didn't," he adds from the drivers side.
Liv rubs her forehead. "IAB came after me anyway, hard, until Patrick testified that he was with me the entire time."
"He lied to save your ass...in my world, that gets you disbarred-"
"-in my world it gets you a promotion."
"You don't owe him anything, Liv," he reasons. "You're not pulling facts out of thin air."
"...doesn't make me feel any better."
Reaching across the console, he takes her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. "I know."
They let the contented silence envelope them, his thumb sweeping back and forth over the back of her hand.
"Rafa?"
"Mmm?"
"Thanks for coming with."
"Spending two hours with you, interrupted? This may just count as our first date," he jokes. She looks over at him. "Oh no. I know you can do better than this."
He smiles, bringing her hand to his lips, kissing it gently. "Of course I can."
"Promise me it will be sooner, rather than later."
He steals a glance over at her. "Promise."
...
"How'd it go?" Carisi questions.
She sighs, leaning against Fin's desk. "Well, he didn't admit to anything-"
"-he didn't deny it either," Rafael adds, helping himself to the snack dish at the coffee bar. "I offered Ellis a deal. He has until tomorrow morning."
Fin swivels in his chair. "You think he's gonna take it?" She shrugs. "Patrick would do anything to protect his son."
"Speaking of sons," Amanda joins in. "Noah's school called. Everything's ok; they just wanted to let you know that there is a bug circulating his class."
Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she realizes that it's dead. "Shit...I didn't realize my phone had died. Thanks, Amanda."
"No problem."
"I'm going to go call them back." She heads for her office, closing the door behind her.
Helping himself to another handful of pretzels, he takes her spot against Fin's desk. "Any update on Sheila?"
Fin shakes his head. "Monitor says she's sticking to her neighbourhood, only ventured outside of that to Mid-Hudson Valley."
"Ok...and the case?"
Reaching into his desk, he hands over a file folder. "Nothing new. We're still trying to pinpoint the foster home Ellie allegedly said she grew up in, waiting to hear back from local schools in the area to see if she was ever enrolled."
He nods. "It's a start...put some pressure on them; time isn't exactly on our side." "Copy that, counsellor."
Finishing his pretzels, he heads towards her office. Knocking softly, he lets himself in closing the door again behind him. She's pacing her office, and he sits on her couch, listening to the one-sided conversation.
"Is he feeling ok?" She nods. "OK...thank you so much for calling and again, I apologize for missing your call." She hangs up, leaning against his desk.
"Everything alright?"
She nods. "Just a courtesy call; they're really good that way- the flu, pink-eye, lice; the school will notify parents if there's something circulating."
He frowns, grimacing a little. "Children really are little cesspools."
Liv laughs. "It comes with the territory, I guess."
Rising from the couch, he crosses her office to stand in front of her. "I have to get back."
The blinds are open in her office and while Carisi and Rollins are occupied on their computers, Fin swivels back and forth in his chair, glancing their way.
"Will I see you later?" She questions.
"I should hope so."
She smiles, and he does too, before leaving her office.
...
Fin leans in the doorway of her office. "That was Barba: Ellis is taking the deal."
She exhales. "Ok. Thanks, Fin."
He nods. "Any update on your hypothetical situation?"
Gathering her things, she packs her bag, hoisting it over her shoulder. "You were right about option four."
Fin taps his temple, smiling. "I knew it. Hypothetically, you both good?" She smiles. "Hypothetically, yeah, we're good."
"Good. Have a good night, Liv."
"You too, Fin." She squeezes his shoulder in thanks, heading for the elevators. Her phone buzzes, and she reads the incoming text from Rafael.
Hung up with an arraignment...may be late.
She texts back.
Chinese or Tai?
He hearts her message, texting back.
Tai...will text you when I'm on my way.
She likes his message, slipping her phone into her pocket.
...
"I'm starving," he sighs, loosening his tie, pressing his lips to hers in a quick kiss.
It's so nonchalant and natural that it catches them both by surprise.
"Sorry," he quickly apologies.
She shakes her head. "Don't apologize." She leans into press another quick kiss to his lips. "Eat. Before it gets cold."
He quickly washes his hands before grabbing a plate from her cupboard, making himself a plate. She slides onto one of the stools at her island, and he slides on to the one next to her. "Fin said that Ellis took the deal."
Rafael nods. "Paperwork was sent out before I left the office." He forks a rather large bite of his pad-tai into his mouth, groaning in appreciation.
She chuckles, sliding off her stool to get him something to drink. "Water or Apple Juice?" He chuckles too. "Water is fine. Thank you...how was Noah's day?"
She hands him the glass sitting beside him again. "Good... He asked me again about the show this weekend, wanted to know if the theatre fixed the broken pipe."
"One day at a time, Liv." She nods.
She's changed out of her work attire, sporting leggings and a soft, pink sweater that hangs off one shoulder, and he loves seeing her like this: relaxed, comfortable. Their conversation in the
car has been playing on a constant loop in the back of his mind and he lets the words he's been hanging on to for weeks to tumble out of his mouth. "You look beautiful, by the way."
"I'm a bit of a mess."
Taking a sip of his water, he deliberately lets his gaze sweep over her. "Not from where I'm sitting."
She blushes, biting her lip. "Finish your food, Barba."
He smiles that lopsided grin of his and she slides off the stool, heading to the living room to sit on the couch. Finishing his plate, he loads it into his dishwasher before joining her on the couch. "I feel like a new person," he comments, rubbing his stomach.
"You're very much a foodie, aren't you?"
"Guilty," he laughs.
Behind them, Noah's bedroom door creaks open and she pulls back to glance over the top of the couch. Minutes later, Noah appears rubbing his eyes. "Mommy?"
"Hey, sweet boy...what are you doing up?" She questions gently.
"My belly feels hungry." He rounds the corner, still half asleep, and he yawns. "Hi Uncle Rafa."
"Hey, amiguito," he greets gently.
"Does your belly want a snack?" She questions.
He shrugs, climbing onto the couch between them, immediately finding his way into Rafael's lap.
Rafael wraps him in his arms. "You feeling ok, Noah?"
"...maybe my belly feels upset and not hungry."
Liv brushes the curls from her sons forehead, feeling for a temperature with the back of her hand. "Do you feel like you're going to be sick, babe?"
He shrugs again, closing his eyes curling into Rafael's chest. Liv unfurls from the couch heading to the bathroom. She grabs the thermometer from the medicine cabinet, the designated vomit bucket from under the sink. In the minute that she was gone, Noah had already turned pale.
"He's clammy, Liv," Rafael informs, rubbing the boys back. "Mommy," he wines, his tiny body posed to heave.
She manages to get the bucket to him in time, and Rafael supports him in his lap best he can as he retches several times. "Get it all out," she encourages, running her fingers through her sons curls.
When he seems to be finished, he falls back into Rafael. "...I'm cold."
Rafael tugs the blanket off the back of the couch wrapping the little boy up in it. "Better?"
Noah shakes his head. "My belly feels worse."
"There's probably more that needs to come up," she reasons gently.
As if on cue, he leans forward to heave into the bucket again.
Rafael rubs his back, not knowing what else to do. He can feel Noah trembling next to him and every retch racks his tiny body.
It causes his chest to tighten.
To her credit, Liv is incredibly calm and he attempts to match her demeanour. When he seems to finish, Rafael holds him tightly in his arms.
"I'm just going to go..." Liv gestures to the bucket in her hand. "Maybe take him into my room?" She heads for the bathroom again.
Rising from the couch, he cradles Noah in his arms heading for her bedroom. Flinging back the covers, he moves to lower Noah into the bed only he protests immediately.
"Nooooo," he whimpers.
"Ok, ok," he soothes, sitting on the bed with him in his arms.
Liv joins them, setting the bucket on the floor next to the bed. Sitting next to him, she passes the back of her hand down her sons cheek. "You're feeling pretty lousy, huh, babe?"
Noah nods, reaching out to her.
She lifts him from Rafael and he wraps his arms and legs around her. Liv presses a kiss to the side of his head. "I think I might be in for a long night."
He runs a hand down the back of Noah's head. "I'll run to a 24 hour pharmacy, pick up a few things."
She immediately wants to protest, tell him that there's no reason that both of them have to be up all night, but there's such concern in his eyes that she knows there isn't anything she could say to dissuade him. "Take my keys so you can let yourself back in."
Rafael nods, pressing a kiss to her forehead, then to the top of Noah's head.
...
Traffic being much slower this time of night, he manages to get to his apartment to change and grab a few things before heading to find a 24 hour pharmacy. As big as the city is, he had almost expected to find a 24 hour pharmacy more readily. He ended up programming his GPS to find one more quickly. Parking out front, he quickly makes his way inside. The store is empty and the pharmacist counter is closed. Scanning the isles upon isles, he wishes he knew what exactly he was looking for.
Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he feels like a complete idiot googling remedies for a stomach bug and children. Search results in hand, he scans the isles for Pedalyte, heads to the cooler for a box of popsicles. He grabs 3 different kinds of childrens Tylenol for good measure, a bag of gummy worms and chocolate covered pretzels. Heading for the cash, he dumps his haul for the young woman to scan.
"Sick kid at home?" She questions.
He's not sure whether or not to correct her and yet he doesn't want to. "How could you tell?"
"Got one of my own at home right now," she answers. "That time of year."
He uses his phone to pay, gathering the items into a bag. "I hope your little one feels better soon."
"Yours too."
...
The sound of Noah crying and retching at the same time fills the apartment as he lets himself back in. He diligently locks the door returning her keys. Kicking off his shoes he puts the popsicles in her freezer leaving the rest on the island, heading towards her bedroom.
He finds them in her ensuite, Noah bent over the toilet and Olivia is kneeling next to him, rubbing his back. "I know, babe, I know," she soothes. "Get it all out."
Noah cries as more comes up and his tiny body contracts at the exertion.
Rafael moves to sit on the edge of the tub across from them and he meets Liv's gaze worriedly. "Liv?"
She gives him a reassuring look. "There's a bug making its way through his class; it was inevitable."
Exhaling, he nods, remembering.
"Pass me that washcloth." She points to the one slung over the edge of the tub next to him and he hands it to her. She wipes Noah's face, flushing the toilet and the little boy all but collapses into her. "Babe, can you go with Uncle Rafa for a little bit?...Mommy wants to get some fresh sheets to make you feel better."
Rafael reaches for the boy, lifting him into his arms. He's listless and trembling, and as his head falls onto his shoulder, Rafael presses his lips to the crown of his head. "I'm so sorry you're feeling so terribly, amiguito," he says softly.
Noah wraps his arms around his neck.
Rising to her feet, Liv runs her fingers through her hair. "I'm just going to go change the sheets...can you?"
"Of course."
She smiles tiredly, heading back into her room.
He sits with Noah on the edge of the tub, rubbing his back rhythmically. It doesn't take long for his breathing to even out and his arms to fall loosely from around his neck. He heads back into the bedroom and Liv is tossing the pillows back on the bed.
"He's asleep," he whispers.
"Small victories," she whispers back.
She pulls back the covers and he lays Noah down gently. He immediately curls into himself. Olivia lays next to him and Rafael sits with his back against the head board on the other side. She
hadn't noticed that he changed his clothes and she peruses him now in his active wear pants and t-shirt. If Noah hadn't been sound asleep between them, she surely would have settled into his side, rested her head on his chest wanting to feel his body without his suit between them.
"I'll stay up," he whispers. "Get some sleep."
Reaching behind her, she hands him the bucket and he smiles.
TBC