"Just be careful. Slow steps, okay?" Montserrat guided Rafael into his apartment.

"I got it," he muttered for the third time since they walked into the building. The only reason he didn't yell is because he physically couldn't do it without bursting his stitches and, well, it was Montserrat. She got lucky on both sides and she knew it.

And she knew it too.

It wasn't like she was doing it entirely on purpose. She was just so ecstatic to have him out of the hospital and on the road to recovery.

"Welcome home," Montserrat said, truly content. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she could actually breathe. She had to kiss Rafael on the spot, just to solidify the fact that they were home and together.

Rafael could feel her anxiety. It didn't help his state at all. "You need to relax, Montserrat. Please." He cupped the side of her face. "I'm the one on meds but you're the one freaking out."

"Can you blame me?" Montserrat said, bringing her hands over his shoulder. "You've gone through the ringer these past days."

"I'm good," Rafael insisted. "You might be the one who needs a rest."

Montserrat shook her head. "No, I'm good. I'm just going to head to the precinct to grab some of my stuff and the paperwork piling on my desk. If I can, I'll talk to Olivia about your case—"

"No," said Rafael immediately, "Because I asked you to keep your admittedly nice nose out of it."

Montserrat deadpanned him for a couple seconds before smiling. "Thank you for the backhanded compliment, but I still want to know."

"You are not allowed to know, my dear, because you're my girlfriend. Did you forget that?"

"Nooo, but I can still ask as your girlfriend and not a detective."

"All you do is keep talking and twisting my words and I don't like it."

"Why not? That's literally your job. I'm just learning from you."

"Oh," Rafael laughed very lightly as it still hurt his side, "You're learning from me now?"

"Mhm," nodded Montserrat, beginning to smile as she battled a laugh. "Aren't you proud of me?"

"You are something else," Rafael shook his head at her, simply loving the moment now. He reached a hand over to take Montserrat's hand, using his hold to bring her up to him.

Montserrat had no problem with that. Any chance she had to be close to him was like God's gift. He brought his hand to her cheek, his fingers brushing over her skin.

"Can I ask you something?" Rafael said in the moment.

"Anything at this point," Montserrat blurted, then laughed with a flushed face.

Rafael pulled his hand off her cheek then took one of Montserrat's hands. At first, she basked in their continuing touch. A couple minutes later, she realized he was studying her – her hand.

"What are you—?"

"Have you gone to therapy recently?"

The question came out of nowhere for Montserrat. "What?"

Rafael hated to have to ask her this but just seeing her hands pained him. Her fingers were practically destroyed with how much she'd been picking at her skin. "Montserrat, you know I don't stick my nose into that part of your life. I listen whenever you want to share about those sessions and I'm okay with that, but this…?" He raised her hand between then, moving his fingers around hers to show what he was talking about. "This right here tells me you've been neglecting that – you've been neglecting yourself."

"You're crazy. I just haven't had time recently," Montserrat said, pulling her hand out of his.

"So when is the last time you went?" Rafael asked, making it a point that he would wait to hear her accurate answer.

Montserrat did not like it one bit. He was right. She was so used to him not directly asking her about her therapy sessions, only making it his point to make her aware that he would listen and talk with her about those sessions whenever she wanted to.

"I'll go soon," she said with a shrug.

"'Soon' is not an appointment," Rafael replied, knowing word tricks very well.

"What, you want me to make the call right in front of you or something?"

"I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to," Rafael said, "I think we're way past beating around the bush here. I'm so sorry that my situation made you feel bad enough to do that to yourself."

"Don't say that—"

"I'm saying that you need to take care of yourself. Don't stop for anyone, not even for me."

"You were shot," Montserrat said unusually hard, all shyness and smiles gone. "Don't you stand there and tell me that I shouldn't have stopped doing anything because you don't know what it felt like when I got that call! You don't know what I felt not knowing whether or not you were going to make it!"

"Okay, okay, that's not what I meant," Rafael cut in quickly, seeing Montserrat getting worked up. Ironically, this is exactly what he meant about neglecting herself. She was clearly more anxious than usual, more easily anxious.

"I'm sorry," Montserrat took a long breath. "I'll give you one point because I haven't been sleeping well."

"I figured, but you realize this is very important. It's important to you and it's important to me. Por favor," Rafael cupped her face, "Please, start taking care of yourself again."

The last thing Montserrat wanted to do right now was argue, and especially over something that she knew he was right about. "Okay," she relented, "I-I know I've ignored some things, I'll start focusing again."

"Thank you," Rafael said, pressing a gentle kiss on her lips.

"What if I don't go to the precinct today and instead go to the store to buy some things for dinner?"

"Tempting…" Rafael said, beginning to smile again.

"And then we can turn in early," Montserrat finished, "I think we can both use it."

"Yeah." Rafael at the memory of the stupid hospital bed he was confined in just earlier. He was already a terrible sleeper and that bed was made of bricks. It had to be. "I can go with you—"

"Absolutely not," Montserrat wagged a finger at him. "You want me to take care of myself? I'm going to ask that you do the same. You have stitches and you're on medication, so you're taking it easy. That means no work, no excessive walking and definitely no alcohol."

"Yes, ma'am," Rafael said, giving a mock salute. "Not like I can beat you to the door or cabinets anyways."

Montserrat chuckled. "No you can't," she teased. She was about to give him another kiss when someone knocked on the door. "You expecting anyone?"

"Yeah, because I definitely invited people over in my spectacular condition," Rafael retorted, smirking when Montserrat deadpanned him.

"...you're lucky you're on medication," Montserrat muttered after nearly losing the battle against the urge to smack him. She turned and headed for the door. When she opened it, she found Lucia and Catalina on the other side. "Hi!" Montserrat greeted them slightly louder than planned, completely thrown off guard.

Lucia barely gave an audible greeting. "Hello," she said rather coldly on her way in, which she didn't exactly wait to do.

Montserrat glanced just as Lucia walked past her. "Hi…" She was sure that Lucia either ignored her or walked by too fast (on purpose) to hear it.

"Hola," Catalina said sweetly, in turn. She reached a hand on Montserrat's arm, giving the woman a gentle squeeze. "How are you?"

Something about Catalina just seemed to ease Montserrat's nerves. Montserrat had noticed it these past few days while Rafael was in the hospital. The elder woman was just so sweet and kind — nurturing. Montserrat was very aware of the lack of female nurture in her life but…she just couldn't find it in her to put boundaries. Catalina was not her grandmother nor anything of the sort. She had her own grandmothers, one in Slovakia and the other…in an unknown location.

"How'd you know I was out of the hospital already?" Rafael asked his mother who'd already sat him down on the couch.

"I called the hospital," Lucia replied. She threw a quick, brief glance in Montserrat's direction. "That's the only way I would find out, of course."

Montserrat pursed her lips together. There was the first jab. There were sure to be others on the way.

Rafael glared at his mother. "I just got out an hour ago. Both of us were a little busy to call straight away."

"Mhm," Lucia disregarded the explanation. "Ya comiste? Did you eat already?"

"We just got here," Montserrat said. She helped Catalina come in and saw Lucia giving her a sour smile. After that, Montserrat figured there was no point in talking much. Her voice alone seemed to irritate Lucia.

"Lo sabía, I knew it," Lucia went straight into the kitchen.

"Don't listen to her," Catalina whispered to Montserrat. Of course it was impossible for Montserrat. How could she not listen?

"Mamá," Rafael wanted to go after Lucia but it was such a challenge getting up from the sofa.

"Sit down," Montserrat warned him, knowing what he wanted to do.

"I forgot my bag downstairs," Lucia came out of the kitchen shaking her head. "I'll be right back." Once again, she ignored her son's call. Rafael suspected she was taking advantage of the fact he couldn't keep up with her at the moment. He didn't expect anything else from her.

"Maybe I should go do some grocery shopping right now," Montserrat said, keeping her sigh as quiet as possible. She helped Catalina walk over to the couch, helping her sit down beside Rafael. "I don't think she'll want me around."

"You do not have to run out of here," Rafael told her, reaching towards her arm. "I will talk to her right now and get this fixed."

Montserrat chuckled. "There's nothing to fix here. Your mother hates me. That's my fault. I messed up."

"It's not your fault," Rafael said slowly. His eyes kept flickering down to Montserrat's hands — more precisely her fingers. Another suspicion he had was his mother's role in Montserrat's anxiety levels rising.

"Lucia's always been more hot-headed. No le hagas caso. Don't worry about her," Catalina said, offering another sweet smile towards Montserrat. The latter appreciated it.

"It's fine. I had to go do those errands anyways," Montserrat insisted. "She's probably one of the few people I can trust to take care of you. I'll be back soon, okay?"

It was a sticky situation no matter what Rafael chose to do. He did tell Montserrat to go take care of herself and one of those errands was (hopefully) her taking time to herself. On the other hand, she was now going to use that time to practically run away from his mother.

Montserrat could see the cogs working in head and chuckled. "I'm okay," she reiterated to him, "Call me if anything happens or if you need anything."

Rafael had no choice but to agree. He squeezed Montserrat's hand. Montserrat smiled as he gave a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. It was ridiculous what that one gesture did to her — it was something she missed dearly.

She cupped his face, smiling softly. Certain words wanted to slip out but she bit her tongue to make sure that didn't happen. She settled for placing a simple kiss on his lips. "I'll be back soon," she promised, then straightened up. She looked at Catalina and before she even asked, Catalina knew.

"I'll keep an eye on him."

Montserrat thanked her for it and grabbed her things to go. She had only been gone for a few minutes when Lucia walked back in.

"She left," she said in a musing way, like she'd known that would inevitably happen, and went back to the kitchen. It just irked Rafael more.

As much as it physically pained him, he pulled himself up from the couch (ignoring Catalina's calm warning).

"You don't have anything," Lucia remarked as she went hunting through the cabinets.

"Montserrat actually went to go do some shopping," Rafael said, watching how his mother reacted to the information. Montserrat was being helpful and yet all Lucia did was give a shrug. The verbal response is what got him.

"Not like she'll know what to get." She had just opened up a new cabinet when Rafael slammed it shut. The jab he felt on his side didn't even hurt.

Lucia blinked at the action then very quickly looked at her son. "That was rude. Don't you dare do it again," she warned like only a mother would do. And she had done it plenty of times before.

Still, Rafael planted a hand on the cabinets just as Lucia went to open them again.

"Qué—"

"Stop it," Rafael said sharply. The glare was on command, and brazen. It was the last part that Lucia focused on.

"I don't know who you're talking to like that, much less looking at like that, but it better not be me," she warned. They were like mirror reflections of each other.

"It is you," Rafael confirmed. "Because you know exactly what I'm talking about."

Lucia rolled her eyes. "Y qué quieres que haga? What do you want me to do? Forget about it?"

"You have nothing to 'forget' because you are not a victim here. Leave that for my cases."

"She didn't tell me anything!"

"Because she was a little perturbed with the situation! You can understand that she wasn't thinking about much details in those moments. Truthfully, I wouldn't either! My only focus would be about whether or not she was okay!"

"I am your mother. I have a right to know when you're in a hospital."

"Agreed," nodded Rafael, "Which you did know about when Montserrat had a chance to breathe."

Lucia looked away, obviously not wanting to concede.

"Ya están peleando otra vez?" Catalina walked slowly into the kitchen. "Fighting again."

"I am not arguing, I'm simply telling her to stop treating Montserrat the way she is," Rafael said, "Otherwise, you can forget about coming over."

Lucia gaped. "Qué?"

"My body is literally aching. I'm not going to add more nonsense stress to the situation. I plan on healing from these stitches as quick as possible so I can get back to my pending work so either you get a new attitude or you can't come over."

It was like Lucia had heard blasphemy. "Qué te pasa!?" He'd never spoken to her like that, not even at his angriest.

"No, what's wrong with you?" Rafael responded. "I'm not dealing with that and I'm letting you know beforehand. You're making her feel bad and for nothing."

"I would hardly call this 'nothing'," huffed Lucia. "You were shot. Imagine my reaction to that and then hearing it happened hours before I got the call?"

"Fair enough," Rafael conceded and would only do it for that point. It, of course, didn't mean Lucia had won. "But you're missing the big picture here."

Lucia scoffed. "And what would that be?"

"She made me the priority. She made me her priority." Rafael laughed at the irony (up until it physically hurt him to laugh). "She didn't think about anything else, no one else, except for me. No one's done that in a very long time, or maybe ever…"

"Don't you say that," warned Lucia, crossing her arms. "Of course I would make you my priority. Soy tu madre. I'm your mother, it's a given."

"Then can you please listen to what I'm saying?" Rafael challenged. It was funny how even when he was off the clock, he could still twist words around to suit him.

Lucia hated that. Her eyes narrowed. "Eres un—"

"I don't care what I am, but I will care if you keep being rude to Montserrat. She's going to come back later and if you're still planning on being here, I suggest you change your treatment. This is the only time we're having this conversation." With that, Rafael turned and started walking – with a limp – away.

"Where are you going?" Lucia called after him.

"To shower — I smell like a hospital!"

"You can't—you can't shower! You just got out of the hospital! You have stitches!"

"Watch me!"

"¡Oh por Dios!" Lucia groaned, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I have the most stubborn son in the world."

Catalina smiled wryly. "He gets it from somewhere, right?"

Lucia didn't appreciate the comment. "I don't have time for this."

"Don't even try it," Catalina said when Lucia went after Rafael. "He's doing it and that's that. You have bigger problems to handle."

"Oh, what? Tu tambien me vas hablar de la —"

"Careful," Catalina raised a finger, "He has ears like a hawk."

Lucia scoffed. "So, what? All of a sudden I'm supposed to cater to his caprichos?"

"Esto no es un capricho," Catalina said sharply, "It's not a tantrum we're dealing with. He's not a child anymore. You know him, and if he says something it's real. If you keep this up, he won't talk to you anymore."

"Am I not supposed to be upset!?"

"You can be," nodded Catalina, "But at the same time, what are you so upset about?"

"Did you not hear?"

"Yes, but you did get the call. It doesn't matter when, the fact that Montserrat remembered about us in those moments is touching enough. She's sweet, Lucia," Catalina said, "All the things she's done for us and without even knowing us — you're just going to forget that because of this? Doesn't it seem pointless?"

"I am upset and I shouldn't feel invalidated for it," Lucia insisted, crossing her arms once again.

Catalina shrugged and shook her head. "Well then, deal with the consequences but don't include me in this," she raised a finger, "I like her. She's very different than the last one – remember?"

Lucia's arms uncrossed to dangle on her sides. "Oh c'mon, Yelena wasn't that bad."

"She left Rafael for his best friend," Catalina reminded Lucia of the 'small' detail with a huff. "That alone marks a huge difference, don't you think?"

"Oh, you never liked Yelena anyways." Lucia let out a long sigh. "It's just…ella era mas…" her hands couldn't make a specific gesture to help explain herself, "She understood us. She came from the same place that we did. This one—" she made a pass to the side, "—is from the other side of the world. She doesn't have the same customs, the same values."

"Y para qué le sirvieron los valores a Yelena si de todos modos traicionó a Rafael, hm?" Catalina moved past her daughter, wearing the most disgusted expression she could form. "Yelena had all the same values as us and she still betrayed Rafael. She cast him aside for ambition. At least 'this one', as you call her, bothered to go to the hospital. Bothered to show some tears too."

"Mama," Lucia turned around, frustrated once again.

Catalina smiled proudly knowing what she was doing. She came around the couch and sat down slowly, leaving her cane on the side. "Que? You know what I'm saying is true. Stop being so stubborn already. You're going to lose here. I like Montserrat and I personally can't wait for the day they get married and maybe even a grandchild."

Lucia groaned. "Mamá—!"

"Oh, just one!" Catalina exclaimed, raising a finger in the air. "I'd be fine with just one!"

~ 0 ~

Montserrat knew that she was late coming back. She honestly didn't intend on spending so much time out even if it meant dealing with Lucia's jabs every so often. She knew Rafael perfectly well enough to know that by now, he had done something that he wasn't supposed to do – whether it was exertion or working or something else, she didn't know, but he did something.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she said upon coming into the apartment and finding Catalina in the living room. She struggled to close the door with her arms full of bags and a couple folders stuck between her left arm and side. "Turns out I fell a bit more behind than I thought."

Olivia was too kind to tell her that stuff. Montserrat stopped by the precinct to pick up her paperwork and ask (very kindly) if she could work from home. Olivia agreed on the spot and even offered Montserrat some time off. Montserrat refused saying her income couldn't possibly stand more time off and stuck to her paperwork routine.

"Don't worry about it," Catalina smiled kindly at the redhead. "Let me help you."

"Oh God no!" Montserrat exclaimed as soon as Catalina attempted to stand up. "I've got it." She did, however, have to sort of wobble over to the coffee table to let down her papers. They sprawled over the table, making Catalina chuckle. Montserrat sighed. "I swear I'm more collected than this."

"I'm sure you are," Catalina nodded. "But you've been under great duress, haven't you? Taking care of my grandson."

"I—I really haven't...I mean...that was the hospital..." Montserrat set the bags down on the floor beside the table and took a moment to breath in and out. "But nothing a good night sleep won't fix for me." Her eyes swept over the quiet apartment. "Where is he?" She asked suddenly, eyes narrowing.

"In his room, sleeping," Lucia answered as she emerged from the hallway. As much as her presence made Montserrat nervous, Lucia's answer struck Montserrat even more.

"Sleeping?" Montserrat checked the time on her phone. It was too early for Rafael to ever turn in. "Are you sure? I wouldn't put it behind him to stick paperwork under his pillow to do it while we think he's 'sleeping'."

Catalina laughed softly. "You know him so well."

Montserrat bobbed her head. "Learned some of his tricks pretty quickly."

"Don't worry, I checked," Lucia said sternly, though Montserrat swore she saw a ghost of a smile on Lucia's face. "He's not hiding any paperwork in that room."

"...thanks," Montserrat said quietly, clearing her throat. "I'm going to, um, put these things away…" She started picking up the bags she left on the ground, making sure not to spill anything.

"That's a lot of things," remarked Catalina, "What did you buy?"

"Oh, things to eat, things to, I don't know, keep him entertained?"

"Is that scotch?" Lucia recognized the bottle all too well.

Montserrat flushed. "Uh, yeah. It's for me…" she bit her bottom lip, "I figured I'm going to need a glass here and there if I'm going to be arguing wtih Rafael about what he can and can't do."

Catalina laughed again. She looked at Lucia with an 'Didn't I tell you?' expression. Montserrat knew him well.

This time, Lucia had to crack a smile. "That's…that's a fair point. So…you're staying here?"

"Um, well, I mean…yes. I'm going to make sure that he doesn't push it until he's ready," Montserrat said, "I know you're working full time at the school and, well…I want to."

Once again, Catalina glanced at Lucia and mouthed 'See?'

Lucia sighed. "I can do some evenings," she said suddenly.

Montserrat almost spilled what was in a shopping bag. "Huh?"

Lucia made another noise akin to a groan and walked around the couch to help Montserrat with the bags. The redhead was like a statue as Lucia pulled some shopping bags from her wrist. "I can do Wednesdays and Fridays during the evenings. If I know my son, and I like to think that I do, he's going to drive you nuts. You're going to need a break."

Montserrat openly gaped at Lucia. "Umm…"

Lucia started for the kitchen, leaving Montserrat behind to process things.

Montserrat's eyes flickered to Catalina on the couch. The latter made a motion for Montserrat to follow Lucia, and so she did. Whatever was happening didn't involve jabs which was a thousand times better.

Lucia was already putting things away in the cabinets and the fridge. "What are you cooking tonight?"

"What?" Montserrat had absolutely no idea what was happening.

Lucia closed a cabinet and looked at Montserrat. "Look, I'm still upset, but…I'm trying to be appreciative. I…don't think I've really noticed what-what you do for my son."

"Uh, thank you…?" Montserrat still wasn't sure where this conversation would end. She could never know when it came to Lucia, apparently.

Lucia sighed. "Look, how about we try to just keep each other informed about this situation? Maybe I overreacted — of course I won't be getting the first call anymore…" she looked Montserrat over, noticing the light flush on the latter's face. "But could I at least get a call within the same day?"

"Y-yeah," nodded Montserrat, "That seems fair…"

"Well c'mon," Lucia gestured Montserrat to hand over more things from the bags, "If you're going to be here for days straight, you'll have to cook or something. Do you know how?"

"Yeah, of course," Montserrat said, "Just because I didn't have a mother growing up doesn't mean I never learned menial stuff."

"That wasn't my intention," Lucia said, keenly aware of her mistake and genuinely trying to backtrack from it. "Just want to know where to start."

"Start what?" Montserrat eyed the older woman suspiciously.

"Rafael does have favorite dishes. You could try making some of them…?"

"Oh…" Montserrat blinked, "Uh, I mean…are you–are you offering to teach me…?"

Lucia nodded slowly. "Yes, what else?"

"Right…" It took a lot for Montserrat to realize this was actually happening. Once she did, she accepted the offer.

While they finished putting things away, Montserrat asked Lucia for one favor. "I just need someone to come in this Thursday afternoon. I, uh, have an appointment that I really can't cancel."

Lucia nodded. "Yeah, alright. I can leave work early one day."

"Thanks," Montserrat said, still weirded out about this 180 behavior from Lucia. I'll be stupid if I question it. She would just take it and hope that it stayed this way.

A/N:

P.S. As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)