"sorry, i'm late!" i yell as i run into my family home for dinner.
"we were just sitting down." my father replies as he presses a kiss to my cheek.
"okay, good. i don't need to hear danny complain about the food getting cold because i was doing my job." i reply.
"heard that!" i heard danny yell from the dining room.
as i walked in, my grandfather kissed my cheek before i looked at my siblings, nephews, niece, and husband.
wait, what?
"rafael?"
"i, uh,"
"i invited him to dinner." my grandfather says as i took my seat in-between rafael and jamie.
there was a awkward silence before we prayed and jamie spoke up as we were passing the food around.
"so, i heard the jury came back."
"yup, we got the guilty verdict." rafael said, slight smile on his face, sipping his wine.
"nice work, barba." danny says as rafa thanks him.
"so, what's this i hear about you getting nearly killed with a belt?" my father asks.
"you almost got killed with a belt uncle rafa?" jack asks.
"yes, but i'm perfectly fine. i got it checked out by a doctor, no damage." he reassures. "i just got some loss of oxygen as i tried to prove that he did the crime to our victim."
"it was one of the best and interesting crosses i've ever seen." erin says.
"i agree, it was very well done." my grandfather adds.
"thank you sir."
i stayed silent, picking at my food, as my father and the family members continued to ask him about this trial and he did his best to explain the pg version of his cross.
"kel, you're awfully quiet. everything okay at work?" linda comments.
"yeah, yeah, i'm just listening to the conversation." i lightly smile. "this was actually rafael's first case with manhattan svu."
"wait, you two work together now?" danny asks, clearly not clear on the facts. i guess i forgot those details.
"yeah, we do." i reply.
there was an awkward silence before danny spoke up and as usual, him and erin got into some sort of disagreement.
as i was doing the dishes, as the rest of my family was still socializing, when my father came into the kitchen.
"you two still haven't spoken, have you?" he says standing next to me as i dried the plates.
"we have, just not about the situation." i replied. "we actually have a date next week."
"starting fresh?"
"yeah."
"good." he paused for a moment. "you still haven't forgiven him?"
"not really no, dad, and i really wasn't expecting to see him at family dinner today or until we worked things out."
"i wasn't either." he admits. "honey, i know he made a mistake but let's be honest, we're all hot headed and say things we don't mean sometimes."
"dad-"
"please, let me finish." he says as i nod, facing him, before he continues. "i'm not defending him or what he said in any way, but this needs to be said. you two have been together for years. i know ever since you two got together, you've been talking about starting a family, and the constant disappointment and stress of your jobs isn't helping the marriage, but don't let it destroy this ruin your marriage. your mom and i had a really hard time getting pregnant with erin and that almost happened to us."
"really?" he nods at my response before handing me a glass of scotch.
"we got into a lot of silly arguments. we had joe and danny at home, sure, but we wanted another kid and it just wasn't happening for a little while. we tried and tried, for about a year and a half. i ended up staying with pop for a while, i only went home to see your brothers, until pop told us that this was enough."
"i didn't know that."
"i wouldn't think so. after me and your mother worked through, we never talked about it again. i mean we definitely had our arguments, but i think by pop inviting rafael, it was his way of saying to you two that this is enough. so, i'm gonna say this to you, don't let this go out longer than it needs to be. go home, work this out with your husband, and move forward from there."
"we never heard you arguing, ever."
"that's because me and your mother would fight in the bathroom, with the shower on so you couldn't hear us."
"i didn't know that."
"we always worked through our issues, and you will too. you just need to take the first step into forgiveness.
"thanks dad." i reply.
his only response was to hug me, pressing a kiss to my head like any loving father would do.
i was about to speak again as i picked up my glass of scotch, which was resting on the counter, when the doorbell rang.
my father went to go get it.
"commissioner, great to see you sir." i hear stabler's voice say.
"elliot, it's good to see you."
"is that elliot stabler at our door?" i then hear danny yell before the front door closed as i heard laughter.
i hear him greet everyone at the table before saying,
"where's the youngest reagan sibling?"
"which one? there's two of them." erin says.
"excuse me, it's known that i'm five minutes older." jamie argues.
"we're still the youngest of reagan sibling clan." i shoot back as him as i walk into the dining room. "what brings you to this part of staten island, stabler?"
"as much as i would love for this to be good news, it's not and we gotta go."
"what's up?"
"i'll fill you in on the way to staten island university hospital." he responds.
"but, isn't that staten island svu's juritiction?" rafael intervenes.
"it's our case from manhattan, they called us." elliot replies as i look to my father as he nods. "we'll call you if we need you, barba."
rafael nods as i grab my coat.
"i'm sorry, i'll see you guys later." i say before rushing out of the house with elliot.
as he filled me in on the way to the hospital, i can't count how many red lights we blew through or how many people we cut off.
we rushed in as we were met with the detectives from that precinct, one of them, who i happened to know.
"carisi?"