blues and greens (barson)

xiv.

Aspen had taken to Lucy almost immediately and both Rafael and Olivia felt comfortable leaving the children with her while they went to the ACS meeting.
They got there fifteen minutes early and were seen fifteen minutes later than scheduled but neither of them complained as they waited, whispering to each other.
"Barba and Benson?" The ACS worker called.
They stood and followed him through the building.
He stopped in front of an office and gestured at two chairs, "Mia Fletcher is the case worker for the boys. She'll be with you in just two minutes."
They thanked him and he was on his way again.
"They're always so busy here," Rafael mumbled.
He was worried, a lot of people at ACS hadn't forgiven him for prosecuting that case years ago.
"It's okay," Liv took his hand and brought it to her lips, pressing a soft kiss to his knuckles.
They'd both taken to doing this as a sign of adoration and comfort for the other. It was a small and very meaningful thing.
She kept hold of his hand and just closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
The door across from them opened, "hi, I'm so sorry for the delay. I'm Mia Fletcher. I'm the caseworker for the Delgado twins."
Olivia got up quickly and rushed forward to shake her hand, "I'm Olivia Benson, this is my partner, Rafael Barba."
Rafa shook the woman's hand after Liv and they were guided into the office.
"As I'm sure you're both well aware, this is an incredibly unprecedented case. We're honestly just trying to do what's best for the boys at this point," Mia began, "their father has signed off his parental rights, though, and the DNA has come back as matches to both of you."
"We agree that we just want what's best for the boys," Rafael nodded, "we just moved into a larger apartment to accommodate this rapidly growing family of ours. Our daughter, Aspen, born of the same circumstances recently came to us as well."
"I also adopted my son, Noah, a few years ago. They'd be coming into a home full of love and two older siblings who are already determined to meet them," Olivia added.
"Your incomes support these changes and the ability to care for four children?" Mia inquired, digging through a file.
"I'm a defense lawyer," Rafael explained.
"And I'm the Commanding Officer at Manhattan Special Victims Unit."
"Oh! That's where I recognized your name," Mia smiled as she looked toward Olivia, "I attended a high school you spoke at a handful of years ago now."
Olivia smiled.
"Alright, well, financially it seems you're well equipped and you said the two older kids are excited to meet them?"
Rafa nodded, "they were very upset we were leaving them with the nanny but we wanted to be sure we didn't overwhelm the boys with meeting all four of us at once."
Mia flipped through the file a bit more with a nod, "well, there is one question I have."
Rafael's hand found Olivia's.
"It says here that there was an incident a few years ago that led to a trial," her eyes fell on Rafa.
His entire demeanor shifted, guilt and sadness appearing on his features.
Olivia opened her mouth to speak but he squeezed her hand.
"Yes," he nodded, pursing his lips, "there was a very, very sick child and beyond a miracle he wasn't going to get better. I'm not trying to use that as an excuse, just to lay out what happened. The child was in pain everyday and the mother..."
Olivia gave his hand a squeeze as she heard his voice crack slightly.
"I did what I did to try to save both the mother and father from the guilt and pain that accompanied the decision," Rafa's voice was barely a whisper at this point, "it was not something I did lightly and it's not something I ever, ever want to have to do again."
Mia nodded slowly, her brow furrowed a bit, "I understand."
His eyes fell closed and he took a deep breath.
"I can tell that that is a weight you still carry," she looked at him sadly, "if this were an adoption, that would be a major bump to surpass, but because we're trying get your children to you, I don't think it will cause too many issues."
Liv squeezed Rafa's hand, "I think it's important to note that Rafael doesn't have a harmful bone in his body. He is a very good man and he's very good with children."
Mia nodded and smiled, making a note, "I'm glad to hear that coming from you, Miss Benson. I know that you, in your line of work, wouldn't allow anyone you consider a threat to be anywhere near your children."
Rafael looked at Liv and gave her a weak smile, it was clear that he was struggling with the fact that a choice he had made and had felt the guilt of since he'd done it could possibly cause issues in this matter. He didn't want to be the reason these boys couldn't come home with them.
"Why don't I take you to meet the boys? The foster mother they've been staying with brought them in."
"Does that mean you're going to allow us to take them home?" Liv inquired.
"If this meeting goes well, likely you'll be able to leave here with your children today. If they seem nervous or uncomfortable, you may have to have a few more meetings with them to see if they warm up to you."
"No one has been willing to tell us their names yet," Rafa admitted.
"Maddox Ellis and Felix Jensen," she smiled, "they're identical and will cause trouble with it eventually, I'm sure of it. They're wonderful boys, though."
"First and middle names?" Liv asked to clarify.
Mia nodded.
"Okay, let's go meet them," Rafa sounded nervous but excited.
The couple was led by the case worker to a large room that had a table and some toy boxes. The boys were playing quietly with Legos.
"Hi, boys," Mia greeted as the three adults entered.
"Hi, Miss Mia," they said in unison.
"I want you to come meet some people, would you be alright with that?"
Both boys stood and came forward, their hair was a darker brown like Rafael's, their noses were closer to his as well, but the eye shape and mouth shape was all Olivia. The eye color, however, was what made the two boys stand out. Their eyes were brown closer to the pupils but turned to Rafa's green at the outside of the irises.
Liv was fascinated and somewhere deep in her memory she pulled the term "central heterochromia."
"Hello," Rafa crouched, "I'm Rafael and this is Olivia. It's wonderful to meet you."
"I'm Felix and that's Maddox," he pointed at his brother, "are you the people Miss Layla told us about? Our new mom and dad?"
Liv glanced at Mia and then back to the boys, "would that be okay with you?"
Maddox looked toward Rafa and then toward Olivia before leaning over and whispering in Felix's ear, he cupped his hand around his brother's ear so none of the adults could hear what was whispered.
Felix nodded, "do you know how to make plátano maduro frito?"
Rafael's eyes went wide as he listened, "I do, sí. ¿Hablas español?"
Both boys nodded.
"Their mother was Cuban," Mia whispered to Olivia.
Rafael was chatting with them in Spanish and had an excited smile.
Maddox and Felix both looked comfortable and happy to be having a conversation in Spanish.
"Was Spanish their first language?" Liv inquired quietly.
"I'm honestly unsure, but I believe it's likely they were taught both simultaneously."
Olivia nodded and looked back at the young boys.
"I think they'll be happy to go with you today," Mia smiled, "this is the fastest they've taken to anyone since I met them."
"Would you like to meet your brother and sister?" Rafael inquired softly.
The boys looked at each other and then to Olivia and back at Rafael.
"Do they speak Spanish?" Felix asked.
"Noah knows some," Olivia offered.
"We can teach them, if you'd like?" Rafa smiled, "I was hoping to teach them at least some, already. Maybe you can help me?"
Both boys nodded excitedly.