Whiskey 'n Lace

~ Chapter Thirty ~

Olivia returned home to Rafael and hoped to enter the apartment undetected, but she had no such luck. Her husband was tucking gifts under the large Christmas tree when she entered with a large red mark forming on her arm. Rafael quickly felt his wife's presence and when he turned to see her face marked up with tears he nearly lost his cool.

"What happened, mí amor?" Rafael questioned, quickly getting to his feet and her side.

"Nothing, " Olivia shook her head and looked everywhere but at Rafael.

"Liv, " Rafael spoke calmly, gently holding Olivia's arm into view, "this mark is not nothing, it's nearly already bruised."

"I'm fine and nothing happened, I need to shower, " Olivia quipped, trying to move away from her husband.

"Honey, just tell me what happened, " Rafael sighed, caressing his wife's chin, lifting her head to meet her eyes.

"Charles, " Olivia seethed, the hot tears burning her eyes, "he showed up at the gym and laid into me about what I said last night, he thought I said it just to make him feel shitty. Then when I told him about my struggles and to get lost he huffed at me and grabbed me by my arm. He practically growled at me, saying I wasn't allowed to hate him or his love child with the whore."

"Woah, he put this mark on your arm?" Rafael questioned, looking at the large red handprint.

Olivia nodded and winced when Rafael barely grazed the area with his thumb, "ow!"

"That hurt?" Rafael questioned, now worrying about the force Charles used on his wife.

Olivia nodded again and leaned forward placing her forehead against Rafael's collarbone.

"Do you think it needs to be checked out?" Rafael questioned, pulling apart from a long but much-needed hug.

"No, I don't think it's broken or anything. I think he just bruised the bone and it's gonna hurt for a while."

Rafael nodded, "okay, what can I do for you? The rest of the day and night are ours to do whatever you'd like, mí amor."

"I want to bake cookies and watch crappy Lifetime Christmas movies, I want to snuggle up with my husband and drink hot cocoa, and I want you to join me in the shower."

"Now that's something I can get behind, " Rafael chuckled, as his wife led him by hand up to their master suite. 

Rafael certainly wasn't planning to sweep what Charles did to his wife under the rug, but he wasn't going to deal with it in the next twenty-four hours. His wife had been stressed out enough lately, and she didn't need her husband sitting in a jail cell for assault. It was clear that Christmas was going to run a bit differently this year, but the only people the new married couple needed were each other.

Rafael humored his wife by helping her bake Christmas cookies and spun her around the kitchen like a beaming idiot to carols. Then they settled in to watch cheesy Christmas movies, drink hot cocoa, and munch on warm sugar cookies that were fresh out of the oven. As the snow drifted outside, falling silently over the bustling city, Olivia snuggled into Rafael's chest and drifted to sleep. She knew and felt safe wrapped in his arms, especially after what had happened today she'd let him protect her without a fret, at least for a little while.

///

Christmas passed solemnly as Olivia and her little brother didn't speak. In fact, the only people Olivia talked to from her family on Christmas were her moms' and even that was kept short. Rafael and Olivia enjoyed a day with his family at his Abuela's home, they ate good food, opened presents, and just spent quality time together laughing and celebrating the holiday. Unfortunately, Olivia had been on call so she'd left the festivities early to deal with a double rape homicide, but in her eyes, it was still a great Christmas.