Objection | SVU

Chapter 9

At this point in the party, lots of people had already gone home. Some of Rafael's closest friends from the DA's Office were still here, along with a decent amount of people from the SVU, including the squad. Nathan was here, too, and he was still sitting with the squad and me.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and as I turned around, I caught a glimpse of Rafael right before he kissed me on the cheek. "Cariño, can I talk to you?" He asked me, and I got up and followed him into another room. He shut the door behind me, and I looked around at the room. It was very dimly lit, and it was accented blue. I looked out the windows and saw Madison Square Park, and I saw the moon shining down on New York. I looked back at Rafael and asked, "What's up? Is everything okay?" He nodded and replied, "Yeah, everything is fine. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Okay, what's on your mind?" I asked patiently, and I could tell that Rafael was on edge. I felt his hands envelope mine, and I looked at him lovingly. It was so quiet and serene in this room, and I was so glad that I had a moment alone with Rafael. He took a deep breath and began speaking.

"Jess, I'm so thankful for you, and I love you more than you can ever imagine. I don't deserve someone like you in my life, but I'm so grateful for you and everything you do for me. You make me a better person every day, and you keep me sane. You're one of the few people who can actually tolerate me on a daily basis, and I have no clue how you do that..." He laughed quietly, and I smiled. I wanted to say something, but the look in Rafael's eyes told me to stay quiet and let him finish. He resumed, saying, "You're an amazing person. You're so intelligent, caring, kind, loving, humble, and strong. I'm so thankful that you gave me a chance that night at Forlini's, because if you didn't I don't know where I would be without you..."

I felt one of Rafael's hands move from mine, and he held my two hands in his one. He reached into his pocket, and he took something out, holding it in his hand and keeping it hidden. My heart started to beat faster as I watched Rafael intently. He looked at me, and I could see the pure love and affection in his eyes. He kept eye contact with me, and he lowered down onto his left knee. I pulled my hands back from his, and I put them over my mouth as the tears surfaced again. He gently tugged at my left hand, and I let him take it. I was still covering my mouth with my right hand, crying and hyperventilating as Rafael's thumb caressed the back of my hand soothingly. He knew that calmed me down. As I calmed down, he held my hand and asked,

"Jessica Noelle Mitchell, will you marry me?"

I frantically began nodding my head as I cried out, "Yes! Oh god, Raf, yes!" I was still crying as Rafael's thumb continued to rub my hand. He used his other hand to snap open the small, velvet box that he had been hiding, and that's when I saw the ring. "Oh my god, Raf... It's so beautiful." I managed to say with an uneven voice. Tears were still coming down my cheeks as he slid the ring onto my ring finger, and he got up from his knee. He was smiling widely, and I was still crying with a hand over my mouth. "Come here." He pulled me into his embrace, hugging me tightly as he whispered in my ear, "I love you, Jess. I love you so much." He continued to whisper in my ear about how much he loved me and how happy he was. His left hand was rubbing my back, trying to calm me, as his right hand softly combed through my hair. 

As we separated, I opened my mouth to ask him a question, but Rafael simply smiled, already knowing the question. He said calmly, "I already asked your brother's blessing a few months ago, and he said yes. Apparently he's heard alot about me from you, and I met him a few times." I looked at Rafael, shocked. "You met him?" I asked, sniffling as I got over my tears. Rafael chuckled and replied, "Yeah, I wanted to make sure that he got to know me before I proposed to his sister." I slapped him lightly on the arm, and we both laughed. "So you and Nathan were acting like you had just met today?" Rafael nodded, and he looked at me with a loving expression. "I love you, Jessica." He said, and he kissed me softly on the lips. I smiled widely and blurted out, "You make me so happy, Rafi." He smiled back at me, hugged me to him, and kissed my temple, saying, "Not nearly as happy as you make me."