A/N: I wanted to write a Noah/Barba one shot and this is what came up. I decided to start a little series featuring domestic Barson because I need a little fluff and humor sometimes, too. Also, I chose a teen rating just because of some words and content.

Rafael held back his groan and let it bubble in his throat when he saw the dreaded equations spread out in neat columns on his son's homework. Math wasn't his strongest subject in school and frankly, he didn't need much of it during his years at law school. The thought that he would ever encounter those dreaded, jumbled mixture of numbers and letters again never even occurred to him.

Then he married Olivia Benson and all the sudden he was encountering all sorts of things he never even thought possible. Unfortunately, one of those things happened to be the homework assignments his son brought home every other night. Turns out, he wasn't a math wizard much like himself and favored the written word that came natural to both.

"Dad," Noah sighed, dropping his mechanical pencil on the table and slouched in his seat as he stared at the man across the table, "I think it's time to put us both out of our misery."

Barba wanted to laugh at the sudden seriousness his usually silly eight-year-old was talking with. The only time Noah was serious about anything was his dinner (the boy had an appetite that could rival his own sometimes) and his Saturday morning cartoons. Seeing him so down and kicking his feet under the table struck a chord deep in him somewhere, though.

"What do you mean?"

Noah bit his lip and looked away from him for a few seconds. Whatever he was about to say, he was nervous.

"I want a tutor," he said quietly, bringing his left thumb up to his mouth and bite at the nail. He still refused to meet Rafael's eyes and the man was a bit shocked that he was sensing some trepidation from his son. It wasn't something he'd ever felt coming from the boy before and it unsettled him greatly.

"Don't bite your nails, bud," Rafael said before he leaned forward and folded his arms on the table. He moved aside the legal pad he was writing on before Noah came out from his room with his backpack. He waited for Noah to release his thumb and lace his little fingers together in his lap.

"We can take you a tutor if that's what you want," Rafael started, watching as Noah met his eyes and nodded sadly, "Are you afraid I was going to be mad?"

Noah nodded again silently. Rafael felt a deep pang of sadness in his chest that his son thought he was going to make him mad or set him off. Noah had unfortunately witnessed him go off on an angry rant before, but it was never directed at him or his wife. His job was stressful and frustrating, so much that it was difficult for an eight-year-old to fully understand.

It hurt him to think that his son could ever think he would get angry with him like that. He made a quick mental note to beat himself up later so he could take care of the situation sitting in front of him. His little man needed reassurance.

"Noah, I wouldn't ever mad at you about something like that. If you want a tutor, we can set that up."

"But I don't want you to think that I think that you're stupid!"

Rafael chuckled, running a hand through his product-free hair, "I know you don't think I'm stupid."

"Because you're like the smartest person ever, dad!"

Noah punctuated the sentence by quickly climbing down from his chair and running around the table so he could throw himself at Rafael. The lawyer plucked the boy right off the ground and sat him on his lap, kissing his temple before he pulled back and grabbed Noah's face, fingers squishing his cheeks.

"You're darn right I'm the smartest person ever!"

Noah pushed his hands away, giggling wildly before he leaned against the man's chest, "I love you, daddy."

Rafael smiled softly, feeling the same overwhelming, heart-bursting love he always did whenever his boy said those words. God, how he loved that child. He was one of the best things to ever happen to him and he would move worlds just to make him smile.

"I love you too, buddy."

For the next hour and a half, the two sat and tried their best to solve the troublesome math problems, scouring the textbook and checking the index and cheat sheets for the answers but none of the work to show for them. After they hit the two-hour mark, Rafael growled and snatched his laptop from the office and quickly opened the web browser.

Liv found them twenty minutes later, sprawled out on the floor of the living room, Noah looking back and forth from the screen to his paper while Rafael scribbled notes of his own, getting his own work done while he helped Noah cheat on his math homework.

Liv sighed and dropped her keys in the tray by the front door and set her four-year-old daughter down (who scampered off to her room almost immediately), giving her husband a clear look of disapproval as she took in the scene before her. Noah just smiled and greeted her, not knowing that what he was doing wasn't exactly making her the happiest camper alive. Rafael knew, though, and gulped when she mentioned they would be having a talk later.

She wouldn't admit it, but she enjoyed the nervous look he gave her while their son happily jotted down the answers to his homework sheet, thankful that he would be getting an A on his math homework for once.