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“Hi,” Rafael says, opening one eye without lifting his head or otherwise pulling himself out from under the comforter.
“Hi. Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up,” Olivia says, stripping off her shirt, pants, and bra, and going to fish one of Rafael’s shirts out of the hamper.
“You’re fine. I was trying to stay up for you.”
“How’s that working out?” she asks, pulling on a Harvard shirt so worn that the logo is really only recognizable if you know what it is.
Rafael just hums, already face planted back into his pillow, and Olivia laughs as she crawls under the blankets with him. He shifts to drape his arm over, spooning against her back, but she feels him stiffen after a moment.
“What?” she asks as he runs his hand down her thigh.
“How come I have to wear pants to bed but you don’t?”
She laughs again. “I didn’t say you had to wear pants, I said you had to explain to my son why you’re in my bed without pants on when he inevitably comes into the room.” She settles more firmly back against him. “It’s not my fault you’re a coward.”
Rafael squeezes her thigh. “Sorry I’m not brave enough to explain to an elementary schooler about why adults might not be wearing pants.”
“Plus you like when I’m not wearing pants.”
“I do,” he says, pressing a kiss against her neck, and just like that the not that serious to begin with argument is over.
“Sorry I woke you up.”
“I’m just glad you’re home.”
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They’ve both been staring at the last egg roll for a good five minutes.
“I didn’t get as much food as you,” Olivia finally says, and Rafael looks at her, aghast.
“You didn’t even eat all of the food you got! And you ate some of mine!”
“You know I don’t like the vegetables with the sauce. And you’ve already had two.”
“I get a lot grumpier than you when I’m hungry.”
“And what, one eggroll is going to make a difference?”
“It’ll make more of a difference than no egg rolls.”
“You mean two egg rolls?”
Noah ambles into the kitchen, completely oblivious to their arguing. He looks through the various empty food containers, and his face lights up when he sees the egg roll.
“Can I have that?” he asks, pointing, and Rafael glances at Olivia. She’s trying not to laugh just as much as he is.
“Yeah, buddy. Dig in.”
Noah grabs it and heads back to the couch to return to his show, and Rafael steps into Olivia’s space, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Well, he solved that problem,” she says, and he leans in to kiss her softly.
“I’m still hungry though,” he sighs, putting on his best puppy dog eyes, and she rolls her own at him.
“Noah?” she calls, and he sticks his head over the back of the couch, “You want to go get ice cream?”
“Yeah!” he cheers, mouth still full of egg roll.
“Go get your shoes on,” she says before turning back to Rafael, who grins at her.
“I love the way you take care of me.”
“Oh, did you want to come? I was just going to take Noah, but I guess if you-”
He kisses her again.
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“Liv, I’ve got to finish this argument, I can’t just take off. Plus I need to get started on some research for my next case.”
“And I can? We’ve got two active investigations and another going to trial in two days. You’ve got paralegals who can do research for you.”
“And you’ve got detectives. Don’t pretend you’re any better at delegating than I am.”
“So what, we just abandon our kid at dance and see if he’ll catch the train home?”
Something about our kid centers him, and he sighs with a smile he knows she can’t see but hopes she can hear.
“Okay. I’m going to ask you something, and I need you to promise you won’t get mad.”
“I’ll get mad if I need to get mad.”
“Liv.”
Her turn to sigh. “Alright. I promise.”
“Is there anything going on with any of these cases right now that your detectives couldn’t handle?”
“Barba, your job is not more-”
“Hey. Hey!” he says, raising his voice as she continues to tell him off. “Firstly, you promised you wouldn’t get mad. Secondly, we’re going to talk about me in a moment. Just answer the question.”
There’s a long pause.
“No. My detectives can handle what we’re doing right now, and they know to call me if something comes up that they need me for.”
“Okay. You’re correct, a paralegal can do this research for me. And I can work on this argument at home once he’s gone to bed, and you can listen to it so you can give me some feedback. Then I’ll help you work on your arguments to get the poor prosecutor to do what you want.” Olivia laughs. “Sound like a plan?”
“Yeah, that sounds great.”
“Good. I’m going to get a car and come pick you up, and then I’m taking you and our kid out to dinner.”
“That sounds even better.”