Law And Order: SVU One Shots

Those She Has Loved [Part Two]

Grieving the loss of Ed was something that was a lot for Olivia to go through. She went through stages of grief that weren't even close to common. All she wanted to do was cry all the time, but unlike other times, she had someone there to lend their shoulder for her to cry on. Rafael helped her in ways that no one has helped before. He would talk her off of ledges that she somehow came too, and would make her feel alive when she felt so numb. Olivia Benson wasn't one to feel so absolutely low, but when she did her beloved Rafa was there to make her feel good again.

"Rafa?" Olivia asked quietly, as she opened the door to Rafael's office. He had transferred to Manhattan to be closer to Olivia and Noah.

"Hey, Olivia. What brings you here?" Rafael questioned quietly, as Olivia walked slowly towards his desk after shutting the door.

"Uh, I wanted to talk," Olivia spoke. Rafael nodded as he stood before moving to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her to the sofa. They sank down together, and Olivia grabbed Rafael's hand as she tried to figure out what to say.

"What do you need to talk about, Liv?"

"Us." She whispered.

"What about us?" He asked quietly.

"Well, I was thinking about me and you... and how we could maybe start moving forward in our relationship. I know that lately, you have been just helping me through all of this shit... but I think I'm ready now to really start dating you." Olivia spoke. She was shaking a bit as she spoke because she was worried that he wouldn't be ready to date her after seeing what she had been going through the last several months.

"I don't know why you have to ask me these things." Rafael laughed, and Olivia closed her eyes tightly as she dropped her head.

"I'll take that as a no... I'm going to get out of here." Olivia mumbled, before standing slowly and walking towards the door. She was stopped by Rafael's strong hands on her waist. He pulled her close and removed one hand from her waist to brush the hair away from her neck.

"You don't have to ask me if I want to be with you, Olivia... because I always want to be with you. You are the most amazing woman I have ever been with, and I cannot believe that you are mine..." Rafael spoke before kissing her neck. Olivia felt as her skin was covered in goosebumps, and she tried her hardest to not shake from his kiss.

"I love you." Olivia breathed, as she struggled to even out her breathing.

"I love you too, Liv. So very much." Rafael spoke before turning Olivia around. He looked at her and smiled at how red her cheeks were. He leaned close and started to kiss her lips before working his way to her jaw and then down her neck. They slowly slipped back to the couch where they both felt like they had completely connected for the first time.

///

Rafael and Olivia were extremely happy together. They knew that there was no chance of them starting a family together in the old fashion way, so they looked into adoption. At first, they put their application in for a newborn, but they weren't picked. So then they opened their house up to fostering and had many kids come through that door and leave through it too. Noah was enjoying when they had kids in the house but was so sad when they left.

Nearly two years into their fostering adventure, they found their first absolute match.

"Mariana, why are you so stinking cute?" Olivia cooed, as she walked around the baby's room with her cradled in her arms. This baby came to them nearly two days after she was born, and had been with them for six months. They had filed to adopt her, and now they were just waiting. The waiting process was the longest.

"Dad's home." Noah smiled, as he came into the baby's room and looked at his mother and baby sister.

"I'm surprised that you aren't screaming that." Olivia chuckled, as she lifted the baby to her shoulder and rubbed her back as she walked towards the door as Noah followed her close.

"It's because Mariana is sleeping. I'm not going to wake up my baby sister." Noah replied. They got downstairs and as soon as Rafael called from the kitchen,  Mariana woke up more and started to babble a bit.

"Rafa, our little angel has missed you all day." Olivia smiled as she walked into the kitchen. She stopped short when she saw her boyfriend holding a small baby in his arms.

"Uh, who's that?" Noah asked before his mother could.

"We got picked, Olivia. By a teenager who couldn't keep her baby. So, uh, this is our little guy. The mother didn't name him, but he's ours." He explained, and Olivia looked at her boyfriend with wide eyes.

"Dude, we just filed our adoption papers for Mariana... now we are having another baby come into our lives?"

"Olivia, just look at him." Rafael smiled, before passing Olivia the baby. It was an awkward change because Mariana was taking up Olivia's arms. Eventually, she was holding the baby boy who had rust-red hair and cheeks chubbier than Noah's were. Olivia felt herself falling in love with the baby, and she couldn't believe that she was going to be a mother to three kids all well under the age of ten.

"Are we going to keep him?" Noah asked, and Olivia looked up from the baby before looking at her son.

"Uh, yeah. We are." Olivia smiled.

///

Four months later, Mariana Catalina Barba and Jacob Rafael Barba were adopted. It was a special day for the whole family because they were complete. Noah was so excited that he was officially a big brother to a little sister and brother, and Olivia and Rafael were extremely proud parents. The kids may not be biologically their children, but that didn't mean anything to them. Those kids were theirs no matter what and no one could take that from them.

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