Por Siempre Y Para Siempre: A Sequel to Take Your Time

Ch. 9 - I'm Here For You, Nena

Rafael heads to Jack McCoy's office to meet with him and Peter Stone for a second time to work out the final steps to becoming a consultant on cases. It's been about two weeks since Noah got discharged from Mercy General for his pneumonia and everything finally seems to be getting back on track. He checks his phone one last time to see if Olivia has tried to get in touch with him before silencing it and stepping into Jack's office.

"Hi, thank you both again for being so patient with everything going on right now," he says immediately when he sees his two friends sitting at the round table in the room, "Noah's pneumonia kind of set me back a bit on things. I wanted to make sure he was all set and back to perfect health before I dove headfirst into all of this."

"We completely understand," Jack McCoy speaks for both him and Peter, his cheerful grin gives Rafael some relief from the stress he's been feeling all morning, "we're just glad everything is okay and that Noah is back to his energetic self." Peter smiles and nods to confirm Jack's cheerful statement.

"He definitely is back," Rafael sighs happily as he pours himself a cup of coffee, "back and bouncier than ever." The three share a short laugh before Peter changes the subject.

"So, for the final steps," he eases into the list Rafael needs to complete before this becomes a reality, "At our first meeting when Noah was in the hospital, I mentioned that you'll have to establish an LLC to do this as a contracted job. Were you able to do that?" Rafael nods and smiles, proud of himself for getting that step done.

"Yes, I got that done last week while Noah was at school," he says, "I named it NOR, INC. It's the first initials for all three of us." Jack and Peter both smile and chuckle quietly at how cheesy Rafael can be about how much he loves his family. Jack's thoughts go back to when Rafael first started working with the Special Victims Unit. He remembers how cut and dry the former ADA was, how uncaring and separated he initially was towards the squad members and even the victims. He turns his head to hide the proud smile that was spreading across his face during this reflection. He was so proud of how far Rafael had come since then, how much he had grown.

"Great, now we have the contract agreement written out stating that you will be brought on for a case-to-case basis, that you will be receiving $2,500 per case and that if your work is to exceed the normal full-time hours in a week, you will be compensated $200 per hour for that. It then goes on to explain how the time will be reported," Jack slides the document over to Rafael and he picks it up to read it. There are four different charts on the page explaining every number for monetary compensation. The first chart breaks down how much money will be received per case, where it will come from, how it will get into Rafael and Olivia's joint account, and why it is that much. The next chart is an example of Rafael's timesheet. There are eight rows, excluding the headers of each column, seven labeled for each day and one labeled "Extra Expenses: Y/N". The columns were set up to reflect what type of work has been done. Rafael glances up from the sheet and gives an inquisitive look toward the two men across from him.

"Will I be putting how many hours I spend on each 'type of work' per day numerically in these boxes? I am assuming yes, but I want to make sure that I am filling this out properly," he asks in a professional tone to mask his minor confusion. Jack nods at him silently before answering.

"Yes, you will simply put the numerical value in, no need to tally or anything. Any extra expenses such as gas, travel, and such must have a documented receipt. Then you will mark the appropriate box for that with a 'Y' or an 'N' and the accountant will no if they need to refer to page 5 for reimbursed expenditures," Jack finishes his long-winded answer and takes a deep breath before continuing, "Peter and Olivia will also be filling out this timesheet to ensure that everything lines up. I don't think that this is necessary but our finance department asks that we triple check all of the documentation due to... Prior incidents." He pauses during his last sentence, horrified that he has to bring up Rafael's trial. A sharp pain shoots through Rafael from his abdomen to his temples, he winces without realizing what he was doing.