Rafael smiled seeing his mother "Hola Mami, I was enjoying a nice relaxing morning in bed, I had forgotten that we had arranged to have breakfast here this morning"

Lucía Barba was busy cooking in the kitchen but she was never too busy to tease her son "Oh yeah, did you have a lady friend that distracted you enough to forget about breakfast with your mother?" Rafa's mother was joking as she had accepted a long time ago that her son was married to his job. She wanted him to find someone to love and that would love him and maybe one day give her grandkids. Now that he had taken a break from his career she was starting to get her hopes up that maybe now he would find himself someone special.

Rafa sat down at his breakfast bar and thanked his Mami for the coffee that appeared before him the minute he sat down "Actually Mami, I did have company last night and she's still here and is going to be joining us for breakfast so please don't go over the top and scare her off"

Lucia turned around to look at her son "you know that its not nice to lie to your Mami? Have you forgotten that" she looked at her son sternly.

Rafael shook his head laughing "Mami, I am not lying to you, trust me I know better than to do that no matter what age I am. I want you both to join me breakfast this morning and I'm hoping it will be happening more often"

Lucia stood opposite her son "you haven't even been back in New York a week Rafi, and you already want me to meet her? You don't just introduce anyone to me, so does this mean that you knew her before you took time away?"

Liv had came out of Rafa's bedroom but she stopped when she heard Lucia, she didn't want to listen in on their conversation but at the same time she wanted to know if Lucia Barba was really okay with her joining her and her son for breakfast.

Rafa sipped his coffee and looked at his mother "The only person I've introduce you to is Yelina and well Rita but Rita was only ever a friend. But this is different Mami, this is it for me. Even if she realises she can do better than me and leave I won't be bringing anyone else home, for me its her or no one else"

Lucia watched her son closely and she leaned on the breakfast bar and laid her hand on top of her sons "I'm sure that Lieutenant Benson feels the same way about you HIjo"

Rafael almost choked on his coffee "How did you?...Mami I never even mentioned Liv"

Lucia patted her sons hand and got back to cooking "Oh sweetheart you didn't have to mention her name, me and your Abeuilta both knew that you were in love with Benson, we just didn't think it would take you this long to act on it"

Liv stood shocked in the hall, His Abeuilta knew? Had she really been so blind for so long, is that how long he had been in love with her? Her and Noah's life could have been so different by now if she had of released sooner what was right in front of her. Liv shook her head, she wasn't going to dwell on the past, they had told each other how they felt now and that was all that mattered. She took a deep breath and walked in to the kitchen smiling.

"Good morning Mrs Barba, I hope you don't mind me joining you and Rafa for breakfast this morning?"

Lucia turned around and smiled looking at Olivia "Please call me Lucia, and of course I don't mind dear I'm just glad my son finally told you how he felt" Lucia winked at her son and Rafael groaned playfully

"Maybe having you two eating together and spending more time together isn't a good thing for me" Rafael frowned playfully and he pulled out the sit beside him for Liv

Liv shook her head laughing as she came and sat down beside Rafa "Well if you didn't want it to happen this soon then you should remember when you make plans with your Mother"

Lucia smiled watching the two together and listening to them "Lieutenant Benson is right HIjo if you hadn't of forgotten about your plans with me then maybe all three of us wouldn't be having breakfast together this morning"

Liv chuckled softly at the face that Rafa pulled and she looked at Lucia "Please Lucia call me Liv, is there anything that we can do to help you with breakfast?"

Rafael raised his eyebrow looking at Liv "I don't want any of my breakfast burnt Mi Amor"

Liv slapped his arm playfully "Hey I am not that bad I have gotten much better since Noah came in to my life"

Seeing her son so happy was making Lucia so calm, relaxed and happy "Thank you for offering Liv, it's more than Rafi did" Lucia pointed at her son who apologised, due to being nervous he had forgotten to offer his help to his mother so he told her he would clean up "But breakfast is almost ready and you're a guest so this morning you get to sit back and relax. Rafi can get you some coffee its just been made"

Liv lifted Rafa's cup and sipped his coffee and Rafa looked at her "Hey! That was my coffee"

Liv laughed softly "Well you haven't gotten me mine yet and I needed some coffee.. But I have no idea how you drink your coffee like that Rafa"

Rafa shook his head laughing and he pressed his lips quickly to Liv's "Don't worry I can make you coffee just the way you like it" He stood up and went over to the coffee maker and he got coffee ready for Liv exactly how she liked it and he sat the cup down in front of her "This to you will taste much nicer than stealing mine" he smirked playfully

Lucia chuckled softly watching them "Well now that the coffee dilemma has been sorted out, you can get the table ready Rafi, I'm ready to serve up breakfast"

Liv was trying not to laugh at the way that Rafa obeyed every word his mother said as she actually really admired that about him, he really was willing to do whatever he could to make his mother happy.

Rafa set the table for the three of them and he smiled at Liv

"You can come join me Mi Amor, my mother won't let you help even carry the plates, not when your a guest"

Lucia smiled hearing her son call Liv his love, she turned around holding the plates and she smiled at Liv

"Rafi is right Olivia, and if he ever makes you help out with cooking when your here then remind him he was raised better than that"

Olivia laughed softly and came over sitting down on the chair that Rafa had pulled out for her, she was sitting to the side of the table with Lucia at the top of the table and Rafa sat directly across from Olivia.

Olivia smiled at Lucia "Well so far he's been nothing but a gentleman in the six years that I've known him, even in the courtroom, he can win a case and still not lose who he was as a person"

Rafael reached over taking Liv's hand squeezing it gently as her words meant the world to him, her opinion these days was the most important one to him.

Lucia smiled setting the omelettes she had made down in front of Rafael and Olivia and then brought her own over to the table.

"So just how much did you hate my son the first day that you met him?"

Rafa pulled a face "Mami, please"

Olivia laughed "I didn't hate him, none of us did. Amanda and I were the first to meet him, and yes Rafael Barba I remember the first thing you ever said to us" she smirked playfully

Rafael groaned playfully "Can I go eat my breakfast somewhere else if this is what the conversation is going to be?" All that was missing from his expression was the childish pout that Noah used on his mother.

Lucia patted his cheek gently "You'll stay right there Mijo, I've only ever heard your side of this story and most men would enjoy having two of their favourite women joining them for breakfast"

Rafa looked at Liv and nodded for her to continue because he knew that no matter what he said or did they were always going to have this conversation, at least if he was here for it he could try and control some of it.

Liv laughed "So.. as I was saying.. We didn't hate him. We had heard about him, his reputation was well known in Hogan place and among our detectives. When I met him I was more curious if he could match the words that he was so confidently throwing out at us.. We wanted to see if he was just a cocky ADA that couldn't live up to his words, but by the end of that first case, we knew that when it came to Rafael he really didn't say things that he didn't mean."

Rafael smiled honestly hearing Liv talk about their first meeting like that as he was like his mother and thought that she had hated him the first day they met.

Lucia smiled "Rafi's mouth was always his most powerful and dangerous weapon. You can imagine how much trouble he would have gotten himself into growing up in the Bronx but thankfully he had Eddie there to protect him"

Rafael froze while eating hoping that his mother wasn't going to bring up how much she liked Alex and that she was first angry at Rafael for taking the case against him and ruining his political career.

Lucia took a minute to take a bite of her food and then looked at Olivia "You know it's a real shame that you didn't get to meet my mother"

Rafa closed his eyes briefly as he really did miss his Abeuilta every single day and he didn't know why his mother was bringing her up.

Liv reached across the table and lay her hand gently on Rafa's to comfort him and to support him as she knew he blamed himself for a long time after his grandmother died. Liv looked at Lucia

"I would have loved to been able to meet her, Rafa told me so much about her. She sounded like a remarkable lady"

Lucia smiled hearing Olivia "You know the first Sunday that Rafi came home and told her that there was a Detective Benson that was driving him crazy, she just sat smiling at him"

Rafael raised his eyebrow "Yeah Mami why did Abeuilta always smile when I talked about Olivia to her?"

Olivia raised her own eyebrow now "Just how much did you talk about me?"

Lucia chuckled "He talked about you a lot.. And HIjo your Abeuilta smiled because she knew that you would one day realise that you were in love with Olivia, she was so happy when you talked about Olivia because she said that you working with Olivia gave her back her Rafi"

Rafael couldn't believe what he was hearing, he really wished even more now that his Abeuilta was here to meet Olivia

"But Abeuilta wanted me to go on and become a Judge, she knew I wasn't going to just claim the ladder anymore now that I was working with SVU. So I thought she wouldn't have been happy about that?"

Lucia smiled putting her hand on her sons arm "Oh Rafi, Mijo, she wanted you to be a judge because she had accepted like me that you were married to your job and that you had given up on having a life outside of it. That you weren't even trying to look for someone to share your life with, or to have a family with. But then you started to talk about Olivia and then her little boy Noah, and Abeuilta seen the light go back on behind your eyes and in your heart. You were back to being her sweet Rafi that cared about people and went out of his way to help them."

Rafael turned his hand around taking Olivias hand in his and he entangled their fingers squeezing her hand gently as he looked at Olivia and his mother

"So I really was bad at hiding my feelings about Liv? I never knew Abeuilta seen the difference that Liv had made to me, I mean it took me six years and almost ruining my career for me to tell Olivia how she had changed my life and how I seen cases and the law"

Lucia smiled "Your Abeuilta knew you better than anyone else, and I would have said that was still true, until you finally told Olivia how you felt. Now I believe that she is the one that knows you better than anyone"

Rafael smiled looking at Olivia as that was basically his mother saying that she not only approved of their relationship that she was over the moon that her son had found someone as incredible as Olivia.

Olivia looked at them both with tears in her eyes "I didn't do anything to Rafa to make him the man he is, it was always inside him, he just had to stop hiding behind his words. After the first few cases we worked together I knew that he was going to be the best ADA my unit would ever have, and he became part of our team and that's what made him care more about the cases. He became one of us. And as for Noah, he loves his Uncle Rafa, who maybe spoils him just a little bit too much" She smirked playfully joking with him.

Rafael pulled a face "I do not spoil him too much, I get him what he deserves, what you both deserve, oh that reminds me I have to bring him his presents from Miami, they are here in one of my bags"

Lucia leaned back in her chair sipping her coffee

"I would love to get to meet Noah, he sounds like an incredible little boy"

Rafael froze as he wasn't sure how Liv was going to react to this, No one knew about her and Rafael and after what happened with Sheila Liv was a lot more cautious about who she let in to Noah's life.

Liv smiled "I think Noah would love to meet you Lucia, if you want to let Rafa know when your free we can arrange to do something together the four of us"

Rafael couldn't believe what he was hearing from Liv, he was convinced that his mother asking that would have made her bolt out of his apartment as fast as she could but she had instead down the opposite.

The rest of the breakfast went passed smoothly much to Rafael's delight, his mother had to apologise and say goodbye to them an hour later as she had a meeting for her school. Rafa and Liv walked his mother to the door and Olivia was surprised when Lucia wrapped her up in a hug and whispered to her "Thank you for bringing my son back to New York"

Liv was surprised by Lucia's words, but the woman didn't give her a chance to say anything back as she pulled back and was kissing her son on the cheek.

Rafael hugged his mother and then he wrapped his arm around Olivia's shoulder and he smiled at his mother

"Thank you for breakfast Mami, and good luck at the meeting you know that if you need any advice to just ring me tonight"

Lucia smiled "I will HIjo, Te Amo, Olivia it was really lovely to get to spend some time with you, next time I hope we get longer together and Ill bring you some baby photos of Rafi" his mother laughed as she turned and walked away waving goodbye to them.

Rafael closed his apartment door "So you survived the hurricane that is Lucía Barba"

Olivia laughed and slapped him gently on the chest "She is not that bad Rafa, I really enjoyed talking to her.. I hope you don't mind that I said she could come do something with you, me and Noah"

Rafael wrapped his arms around Liv resting his hands on her lower back "Mind? Mi Amor I was so happy that you didn't run out my door the minute that my Mother asked to meet Noah I would have agreed to anything"

Olivia shook her head laughing "Speaking of my sweet boy, how do you feel about packing an overnight bag and coming and spending the weekend at the apartment with me and Noah"

Rafael smiled kissing Olivia sweetly "It sounds like the perfect way to spend my weekend, lets get dressed and we can go and spend the rest of our weekend with Mi Amigo"

Olivia smiled as they walked back to Rafael's bedroom to get dressed and so that he could pack a bag, last week she had no idea when he was going to be returning to their lives, now he was going to be staying for the weekend with her and her son after seeing him everyday at her apartment for the last 5 days. Life for Olivia Benson was more than she could have ever imagined.

NOTES

This might be the last chapter I'm not sure yet, I want to work on some Barson one-shots right now