Strong [A Barson Fan Fic]

- 33 -

Three Years Later

Olivia eventually stopped thinking and worrying about her little sister. She focused on her son and husband, along with finishing school. Things were getting better, and she was happy. They all were happy.

"Olivia!" Rafael called as he swung open the front door and let Ezra run in front of him.

"Mama! Daddy and I are home!" Ezra yelled, as he quickly kicked his shoes off before running towards the stairs.

"Hey, what's up?" Olivia asked, as she opened the back door and stepped into the house.

"Mama!" Ezra exclaimed, as he quickly turned around before running to his mother. Olivia swung him into her arms and held him close.

"Hey, Ez. How was school?" Olivia asked softly.

"Good! I got to play on the swings all day!"

"Wow, I bet you are exhausted." Olivia chuckled, but she and Rafael weren't going to luck out with Ezra being tired. He was going to be just as hyper as always.

"Nope! Can I go play in my sandbox?" Ezra asked quickly.

"Of course. Daddy and I will come out and watch you." Olivia smiled.

Once Ezra had opened up his sandbox, Olivia and Rafael settled onto the porch swing and watched their son.

"So how was work?" Olivia asked, as she reached over and rubbed her husband's leg gently.

"It was good. I did find something in the mailbox when I got home."

"Was it mail?" Olivia teased, and Rafael rolled his eyes as he handed Olivia the large envelop.

Olivia looked at it for a moment, before opening it and pulling the papers out. She read over them carefully before placing her hand over her mouth.

"Liv?" Rafael asked softly.

"Rafa... I got accepted." 

"Huh?" Rafael questioned, and Olivia turned to look at him as tears slipped down her cheeks.

"I just got accepted to the police academy. I-i'm gonna be a cop." Olivia whispered.

"Oh, baby! This is amazing!" Rafael exclaimed, before pulling his wife into a tight hug.

"I was scared that I wasn't going to be accepted... with the fact that I have my GED instead of a high school diploma... but I guess my degree helped a lot. I'm so excited." Olivia beamed. 

"What's happening, Mama?" Ezra asked, as he hesitantly left his sandbox and approached his parents.

"I'm gonna be a cop, Ez."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that your Mama is gonna help so many people." Rafael smiled, and Ezra nodded.

"You are gonna be a good cop, Mama."

"I hope so, mister."

///

Olivia was beyond excited about getting accepted into the academy. She knew that it would be a lot of hard work, but she was ready for it. She was ready for twenty-one weeks of training and probably being sore as hell, but she got to be a cop. And she couldn't wait to have her dream job.

"So when does training start?" Rafael asked, as he and his wife got ready for bed a few days after she got accepted.

"It starts on June twenty-second. So I only have a little over a week to prepare and get my physical. I gotta call tomorrow to get in to see my doctor and get all of my paperwork around." Olivia explained.

"And you can come home every night, right?"

"Yeah, I don't live there... thankfully. I think that it would be too hard for me to do the training while also worrying about my boys." Olivia replied. Rafael nodded as he pulled the blankets back before climbing into bed. Olivia watched her husband for a few moments, before finally asking him what was wrong.

"Uh, nothing's wrong." Rafael sighed.

"Rafael-"

"Hey, don't say my full name. I will call you by your full name, and I know you hate that too."

"Okay, I won't. But what's wrong? Because you are really quiet now. I'm worried that you aren't as on board as I thought you were." Olivia frowned.

"Liv, I love that you are so happy about becoming a cop. But I'm worried about you getting shot or getting targeted because you are a female and a cop. I'm worried that you will miss a ton of stuff with Ezra, especially his first day of school. And I thought we'd have another kid by now. But you just wanted to keep pushing it off more and more, which kinda bothers me... but these thoughts don't matter. I think it's time that we turn off the lights and go to bed."

"What?" Olivia whispered as tears welled in her eyes.

"That's why I didn't want to tell you. Now you are upset and look like you are about to cry. I'm sorry, and I think I'll go downstairs and sleep."

"Rafael, if you don't want me to become a cop... then I'll go and work as a tech in a crime lab. Or I'll-"

"I don't want to be the reason why you don't pursue your dreams. I love you." Rafael frowned, as he climbed out of bed and grabbed his pillow.

He left the room quietly, and as his wife started to cry. She really wished that Rafael had told her how he felt before she applied, so that maybe she could have had more time to think through everything and decide what she wanted to do.

///

Olivia took Ezra for a bike ride the next morning before Rafael even got up. When they got back, Olivia had thought through everything but didn't know if Rafael would like what she decided.

"Where did you two go?" Rafael questioned, when his wife and son came into the house.

"We went for a ride. Mama made me ride in my cart though." Ezra sighed.

"It was for your own safety, bud. Now, go potty and wash your hands. Daddy and I need to talk real quick." Olivia breathed. Ezra grumbled something before running off to the bathroom.

Olivia turned and looked at her husband, before leaning against the kitchen counter and sighing.

"I still want to be a cop."

"What?" Rafael mused.

"I thought about everything you said, and I still want to be a cop. I still want to become a detective in the future and maybe run a squad of my own, eventually. But it's what I want, and we can deal with everything that happens as it comes along."