A/N: I don't know how I managed to punch this out with how unmotivated I've been lately. Hope you guys enjoy this one! I don't own SVU or any of the characters. Enjoy.

Rafael Barba lost his wedding ring and his wife was going to kill him.

Not really, but he was going to treat the situation like she would. She found it a bit amusing, considering how he lost it and the fact she was partially to blame. If she hadn't rushed him into the shower the other night for some coveted alone time (because it was rare when you lived with a six and a two-year-old), it wouldn't have gotten lost amongst his clothing on their bedroom floor.

Like most married people, he'd grown used to having the ring on his left hand, almost to the point where he didn't even realize it was there anymore. It was like a phantom limb almost and in the past couple of weeks, he found himself reaching to play with it like he normally did throughout the day, only to momentarily freak out about it not being there.

Perhaps the worst part about it missing, were all the pointed looks his fellow colleagues gave him when they noticed the gold band absent. The awkward questions pertaining to his home life were quickly growing tiresome, as well. How many times he'd had to explain the situation was truly baffling and keeping it out of the rumor mill in both his office and hers was beginning to become an impossible task.

Hell, the other day after court, when Carisi and Amanda followed him out to the coffee cart across the street from the court house, they not so subtly asked if everything was truly ok and if this whole lost ring thing was a cover up.

He still felt bad for the dressing down he gave the both of them, but it was deserved. However, it didn't bring back his lost ring.

Liv wasn't any help in the matter, either.

"You should have worn it around your neck like I do."

How those words haunted him. The moment they got back from their honeymoon, she expertly slipped the band through a necklace and left it to hang around her neck, just to make sure no damage could ever come to it when she was out in the field. It was always there, hidden underneath her shirt and close to her heart.

Yeah, those words haunted him. Especially now, as he stood outside his son's kindergarten room in the parent pick-up line. Usually, Liv was the one to pick Noah up from school, because he was buried underneath piles of case files and crime scene pictures most of the time. But, she was in important meetings all day and he wasn't as busy as he normally was, so he found himself leaning against a bright blue wall, carefully avoiding knocking down any of the kid's drawings pinned there.

He bit back a sigh, not wanting to alert anyone to his impatience, but he was dying to get out of there. Not because he hated this place or because he wasn't jazzed about getting to see his boy before 2:30 that day. No, his impatience stemmed from the fact that he was being eyed by a pack of single moms, decked out in running gear, no makeup and holding lattes.

They stood silently, grins on their faces as they stared him down, talking quietly amongst themselves and giggling, while primping their buns and fixing their clothing. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he focused back in on his phone, trying to respond to some e-mails while he waited.

Two minutes. He had to survive two more minutes and then he was dragging Noah to the jewelry store so he could by himself a cheap ring as a temp until he found his real one. He was tired of all the troubles not wearing one brought him and, he could stop feeling so damn bare all the time.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a hand on his forearm and he locked eyes with a busty blonde, dressed in a tight-fitting dress and heels, unnecessary for a parent pick-up line, if you asked him. This time, he didn't bother hiding a sigh as she got nice and close him, invading his personal space.

"Where has a handsome man like you been hiding all my life?"

Oh, that was a line he hadn't heard before. He cleared his throat and smiled politely as he moved his arm away from her hand. She placed both hands on her hips, her grin never faltering. He could hear the whispers across the hall growing in volume.

"Picking up your child, like the rest of us?"

"Is this not the parent pick-up line?"

His sarcastic retort fell on deaf ears and, instead, he was getting quite the once over by this petite woman. She didn't hide the fact that she was interested at all. God, he wished Liv was there to save him. She would insert herself and he would pull her close and there would be no doubt who was with who.

Here, alone, with no ring, he had a big target on his back.

He glanced up and saw a few of the dad's checking the woman out, no doubt jealous that she was fawning over him instead of them. Little did they know, he wished it was reversed without the jealousy.

"Sense of humor…sexy," her voice dipped low, and she tucked her arms under her chest, "Boy or girl?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your kid? Boy or girl."

"Boy."

"What a coincidence. My son is in the same class it seems. Maybe we could get them together for a playdate sometime? You and I…can have one as well?"

Well, she was brazen.

He shuffled away a little, her gaze fierce and he grew uncomfortable quickly. He was saved by the door opening to the classroom and children being released one by one, running out to their parents as soon as the teacher signed off. He spotted Noah almost immediately, and he moved around the woman to intercept his ball of energy excitedly running to him.

"Daddy!"

"Hey bud," he pecked his cheek and set him on his feet, fixing his ruffled hair, "How was school?"

"Good! I learned stuff! And I made you a picture!"

"Oh, he's precious," the blonde cooed and bent down, and Noah leaned back as she got too close to his face, "Sweetie, do you know my son Hunter?"

Noah nodded as a blonde-haired boy came to a stop by her side, a cell phone in his hand and capturing all his attention. He tried waving, but he didn't receive anything in return. Rafael scoffed a bit and grabbed Noah's hand.

"Ready to go?"

"About that playdate…"

"Not interested, thank you. C'mon Noah."

Before they could even take a few steps, a small voice from an adorable little girl stopped them in their tracks. She held on to the straps of her backpack and smiled brightly at his son.

"Noah, my mommy wants to know if your daddy is single and ready to…," she turned to face one of the women in the group that had been eyeing him earlier, "…what was the word, mommy?"

"Back off, Roxanne," came the vicious reply from the overdressed woman who had brazenly hit on him earlier.

"Shut it, Vivi, he's not interested!"

Rafael tugged on Noah's hand and slipped down the hall, weaving in and out of a few of the other departing parents who stopped to take in the cat fight that was getting ready to start. He sighed in relief as they made it outside and into the fresh air, and for the first time in a half hour, he felt like he could breath.

"Noah, I love your mother so much," he sighed, looking down at his son who smiled up at him.

"I love mommy, too."

And he showed her that much later that night, as they both lay curled up, trying to catch their breath. Liv had found the story so incredibly funny, telling him stories about the same women he had a run in with earlier.

"You could have warned me, you know."

"That wouldn't have been any fun," she laughed and kissed his lips before she climbed out of bed so she could jump in the shower. She stopped in the middle of their room, naked and looking around on every available surface in their room. Bedside tables, dresser, even the counter in the bathroom.

"Where's my necklace?"

Rafael looked over at her as she searched frantically through the clothes pile for her missing necklace.

Two days later, Liv stood outside of Noah's classroom in the parent pick-up line, wishing she had her necklace to deflect the single dad's in the hallway. Usually, she pulled it out of her shirt and let it dangle proudly, using it to deflect advances.

She sighed as this tall, debonair man droned on about how lucrative his investments and couldn't help but think that this was the universe paying her back for not warning her husband about the single moms just days before.