"Gotta say, that was a very Barba move," Amanda said after the trial that brought justice for Carisi's niece. "Not bad for a newbie."
"There's hope," Olivia agreed.
"You've got the magic touch with ADAs, Liv."
Olivia did a double take. "Excuse me?"
"Did you forget we met Barba at the same time? He wouldn't have done what he did back then in those early days. You make them see people as people. And they fall in love with you. Well, Barba did, at least. Surely you knew that?"
Olivia bit her tongue regarding Carisi. It was very much not the time. "Is that right?"
"You staying in touch?" Amanda asked.
"Of course." Olivia decided to throw her a bone. "After everything with Sheila, I started having him tutor Noah in Spanish once a week. He's still Uncle Rafa. Where he works doesn't change that."
"How's that going?"
"Great! He's all but forgotten Grandma Dearest."
"And Barba?"
"What about him?"
"How's he doing?"
"Better than you might think." They hadn't told Noah yet, and he got first priority when it came to the people they knew. But Olivia knew Amanda was fishing and had it halfway worked out already.
"I think I'm going to cash in one of those seven nights of babysitting you said you owe me."
Olivia chuckled. "Let me guess, tonight?"
"Tonight."
"Bring her to mine or bring mine to yours?"
"Mine to yours and then I'll pick her up in the morning."
"Sounds like fun."
In her car, Olivia called Barba. "Just wanted to let you know I'm on overnight Auntie duty tonight. Might not be reachable… And she's definitely fishing, so I think this upcoming Sunday is the time to tell Noah."
"I think he'll take it well. Enjoy your Auntie time. I'll do some research on decent leaseable buildings to set up practice."
"Good luck with that, Rafa. Talk soon." Olivia smiled at the brief exchange. She was excited to share with Noah and finally break out that toothbrush. Shortly, she was on the road to Amanda's.
Her apartment wasn't the biggest, just the two bedrooms, but Jessie was still young enough that Olivia was able to break out Noah's old crib whenever she had the little girl over. It was easy to set up in her own room, but she did wonder how it could work when the kids started getting older and bigger.
There were two unique sets of schedules and diets for Olivia to balance, and that kept her occupied as she entertained the children. There were moments, however, when she simply got to watch the two play and it warmed her heart. Jessie wasn't quite three and Noah was five, but they got along just fine. Noah was sweet and shared his toys with her without needing to be told. She felt a soft pang in her heart at the notion that Noah would make a great big brother, but she was already fifty and Rafa was close behind.
"Mommy, come play with us!"
Olivia's heart melted at the request and she joined in, leaving all the rules of reality behind in favor of whatever imagination allowed.