Fake Love Turned Real [ A Barson Fanfic]

24

Rafael's POV

"Olivia! I told you to wait!" I exclaimed, as I saw my wife walk into the apartment with a moving box.

"It's not that heavy, Rafa. Stop worrying." She grinned as she tried to get past me, the box still in her grip.

"Olivia Mar-"

"Whoa there, Rafael. Don't call me by my full name." Olivia frowned as she stopped and looked at me. 

"I'm sorry. I just hate how stubborn you can be sometimes. Please, just give me the box and busy yourself with unpacking."

"You are forgiven, but I won't be stopped that easily next time." My wife pouted. She placed the box in my arms before making her way into the kitchen.

With the help of Fin, Nick, Amanda, Alex, and my mother, we got all of our boxes moved into the house along with big items. 

By the time we started to really unpack, Olivia had forgiven me and was super excited about our new place. We loved our old apartment, but this one was special and not full of pain and loss. The girls were going to share a room again, but this room wasn't originally decorated for a baby boy that our eyes never got to lie on.

"Hey, you okay?" I breathed as I walked into our daughter's room. Morgan and Annie were already busy decorating their room with my mother, and Olivia had snuck into our unborn daughter's room.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Olivia sighed softly. 

I shut the door behind me before moving to where my wife stood. I placed my hands to her hips, before sliding them forward and to her belly. 

"She's really moving today. No wonder you are tired." I smiled, but my wife didn't respond. She just let me hold her, before she eventually stepped out of my embrace and moved to a small box that had been placed in here.

"This is Javier's urn, Rafa. It got put in here by accident, and I started to unpack the boxes and found it." Olivia whimpered. She turned to look at me as tears slipped down her cheeks.

"Honey, I'll take that. I can put it on the mantel, just like where it was at our old apartment."

"I know that I told you I was fine, that I was accepting the fact we were moving on after Javier passed... but setting up this nursery with his crib, rocking chair, and dresser... this is supposed to be his stuff. Our daughter probably wouldn't even be growing in my belly right now if he had survived, and the girls wouldn't be here either."

I helped my wife over to the rocking chair before squatting down in front of her. I ran my fingers over her legs as I thought of the best way to approach this. 

"When I wake up in the middle of the night and find you laying beside me, your hands cradling your belly... I sometimes forget that it's our daughter in there and not Javier. I get what you say when this is supposed to be his life, but what happened was meant to happen. I get that you may have accepted this all at one point, and that you might doubt what you have accepted as time goes on... but we are meant to be parents to Morgan, Annie, and this baby girl. This is all supposed to happen." I breathed.

Olivia nodded weakly as she cried and gnawed on her bottom lip.

"How is the unpacking going?" Olivia asked softly.

"The girls are working on their room with my mom. Alex and Amanda are working on the kitchen and living room. The bathrooms are already done, so it's just our room."

"Can we do that together? I don't want to deal with her room today."

"Anything for you, Liv. C'mon. I'll help you up." 

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Olivia's POV

I slowly adjusted to life in a completely new apartment. Rafael and I sold the crib, rocking chair, and dresser that we had bought for Javier and got new items for our baby girl. However, once things got better, the anniversary of Javier's death arrived and I got knocked down again. 

It had been one full year since my little boy was taken from us, and I didn't really know how to react.

"Good Morning, Mama! Hi, Daddy!" Morgan exclaimed, as she and Annie came into the kitchen. I sat their plates of breakfast on the island, before smiling tiredly at my daughters.

"Good morning, babies. How'd you sleep?" I mused, as Annie climbed onto her chair. Morgan, however, had made a beeline to me. She gave my waist a hug before placing a gentle kiss to my belly. This little girl always insisted on saying good morning to her baby sister, and it made me happy to know that my girls still didn't have a problem with getting a baby sister.

"Morgan has a stuffy nose." Annie sighed.

"I snored, I guess. Just like Daddy." Morgan giggled, before walking to the table.

"Do I really snore?" Rafael asked, as he sipped his coffee.

"It's really loud." I whispered. My husband chuckled softly before starting a conversation with our daughters.

I kept myself busy by making lunches for my daughters and one for my husband. 

"What's today?" I sighed, as I looked at the date on the small milks I sent with my daughters.

"Uh, May 23rd. Why?" Rafael asked, before he froze. I looked up from the carton and frowned deeply.

"Mama, what's today?" Annie asked, once she noticed our silence.

"Well-" Rafael started, but I interrupted him.

"Do you remember when we talked about your baby brother before we adopted you? How he was in my belly but then we got hurt and he passed?" I breathed.

"Yeah, we remember. But what does that have to do with today?" Morgan frowned.

"Today, one year ago, was when it happened. Daddy and I have been so busy with work and you two that we forgot..."