Strong [A Barson Fan Fic]

- 24 -

Rafael slowly moved out of the house and into the backyard. He found Olivia standing by the fence as Chloe tried to calm her down. 

"Why is Liv so worked up?" Lucia asked, as she approached her son. Catalina had settled down onto a chair with Ezra, so no one had to worry about where the little boy was getting into trouble.

"Her mother showed up... she was asking for money." Rafael frowned as he glanced back at his fiancee before sighing softly.

"Her mother was here? Why didn't you come and get me?!" Lucia asked rapidly, as she tried to get past her son and to try and catch the woman that hurt her beloved Olivia.

"Mom, she left. And I refuse to let you go and beat her..." 

"Why not?!" Lucia spat.

"Because like I said, she left. But also because Serena has another daughter." Rafael whispered.

Lucia's eyes went wide and she swallowed hard as she looked at her son.

"Are you going to go and tell Liv?" Lucia whispered, as she leaned closer to her son.

"I don't know... if I do, it won't be until later. After the party." Rafael sighed.

"Daddy! Cake!" Ezra yelled, as he squirmed in Catalina's arms.

"Alright, I guess we need to do cake!" Rafael said bravely, before pointing a this fiancee and giving her a gentle smile.

///

Ezra didn't know a lot of words, but he knew the word cake so that was what he was the most excited about. He had a small cake to himself, which he smashed and tossed a few pieces onto the grass. Once he had finished his cake, he needed a bath. So while Lucia volunteered to give Ezra a bath, everyone else visited and Olivia wanted to know why her mother had actually showed up.

"So, what happened?" Olivia breathed, as she came up beside Rafael as he ate a piece of pizza. Ezra didn't like pizza, so he ate before everyone else showed up and then got cake as soon as he was ready for it.

"Our kid just made a mess of himself, so my mom is giving him a bath." Rafael mumbled.

"No, Rafa. What happened between you and my mother?" Olivia sighed, as she raked her fingers through her hair.

"Liv, I don't want to tell you right now. I want you to be able to enjoy our kid's first birthday." Rafael replied. He wiped his mouth off with a napkin, before leaning over and kissing Olivia.

"Rafa-"

"Babe-"

"Tell me." Olivia demanded. She grabbed his wrist and squeezed it tightly so he couldn't slip away to avoid this.

"Your mother needed money to pay for medicine."

"What kind of medicine? Is she dying or-"

"It was for your little sister's asthma."

"My little sister..." Olivia trailed off as her heart started to beat hard in her chest.

"Yeah, Sophie. She's two and she needed her inhaler."

"She's two?! My little sister is only a year older than our son... I saw my mother when I was pregnant with Ezra and she didn't say a thing! Rafael!" Olivia screamed.

Rafael watched as Olivia ran over to the gate and swung it open before sprinting out.

"Chloe, catch her!" Rafael exclaimed, before running into the house and grabbing his keys just in case.

Rafael swung open the front door and stopped in his path. He found that Chloe had caught Olivia, and they had sank down onto the driveway as Olivia sobbed.

In this moment, Rafael hated Serena more than he ever thought he would. She hated Olivia and treated her like shit, but she decided to have another kid instead. Like a replacement. A redo baby, just like how Danny's parents had planned on treating Ezra.

///

Rafael opened the bathroom door and got hit with the steam from the shower. He kept the door open, before walking over to the shower and opening the curtain. He found Olivia sitting in the shower, her arms wrapped around her legs as she sobbed. 

"Liv?" Rafael asked gently as he turned off the water before sinking down onto the edge of the tub.

"Rafa, leave me alone." Olivia whispered.

"Babe, we need to talk. Or you need to talk. And you can't sit in here all night, especially since you will get all pruney." Rafael sighed.

"I don't wanna move. So please, just go to bed."

"I, Rafael Barba, refuse to leave my fiancee to be swallowed up by her demons on the floor of our shower. I refuse to let her feel unloved, when I love her so very much. I promise to annoy her until she hits me with either her fist or a bottle of shampoo, and then I will lift her up and carry her to our bed to cuddle and talk." Rafael smiled.

Olivia looked up at him before shaking her head.

"Why are you so cheesy?" She grumbled.

"I think I get it from my Mother." Rafael spoke as he continued to smile.

"Can you help me up? I'm stiff." Olivia sniffled.

"Of course, baby. Let me grab your robe and we can get out of here."

Rafael got Olivia up. He helped to dry her off, and he even brushed her hair and added her usual product to it. Once Olivia was dressed, she was led into their bedroom and they cuddled together on top of the sheets.

"I feel bad for my baby sister. She gets stuck with Serena... she's probably worse than she was before. She probably beats Sophie more than she ever beat me, and that's scary. Especially since I had it pretty bad."

"You don't talk to me about what happened before you left." Rafael spoke, as he caressed Olivia's hair.

"Because I want to forget about that all. I try to remember some of the bad, so at least I know that I'm being a better mother than she was to me."

"Honey, Ezra is beyond lucky to have you as his mother. And I'm so lucky to be your fiance."

"When we have a daughter one day, at least she won't have problems with showing that she loves others. Or she won't fight the love we show her, because she will be used to it all along." Olivia sighed.

"You have grown since we got together. Since you got pregnant with Ez. You accept and reciprocate love now. You aren't the same girl that left Serena two years ago. You are an amazing woman."