His First and Only Daughter

Spoilers: Letters of Transit

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Fringe...how much is it going for again?


Peter watched as Etta laid asleep in their small holdout, their temporary shelter. It was hard for him to comprehend once shock of seeing her wore off, she was his daughter...he'd last seen her when she'd been four and a Loyalist took her away crying as the Amber surrounded them.

He woke and honestly wanted to forget, forget that Bell had turned Olivia over in hopes to save himself...he'd only come back begging for help. That had been a ruse too because the enemy had been lead to them. He wanted to forget his daughter's screams, the last trace of his beloved being carried away to her death or so he believed. She was all that had kept him going those five days after the murderous execution of Olivia Dunham. Her body taken away like it had been trash, he still remembered the glint of her engagement in the sun that day...the one he'd given to her three months after Etta had been born. They'd never had the time to get married, never stopping to take time for themselves between Etta and their jobs and eventually the resistance.

Peter remembered however every first moment of Henrietta Olivia Bishop's life up until that day he'd last saw her.


He remembered the shocked look on Olivia's face when she stared at the test. They'd been only together again for nine weeks when she fell pregnant. It hadn't been a shock on how but the reality was that they had a baby on the way.

He remembered going to the doctor with her and the first ultrasound of their little girl, just a peanut that day with no idea on whether it was a boy or girl. He had actually cried, Olivia often joked with him about that. They'd stuck the sonogram on the fridge and bought little magnet letters so when a name came up they liked they'd spell it out and it'd go on the list beside the sonograms if they other agreed. It had been a fun game.

The first kick, that had been one night while watching a movie and eatting Damiano's. He'd been holding Olivia, hand just on her side when he'd felt it. He looked at Olivia for confirmation but she only had a smile as she finished her meal and watched the movie. That night he'd felt his daughter kick for the first time and knew she'd be just like her mother.

The second ultrasound he'd gone with her and there their bet was settled...it had been a girl like Olivia had predicted. He may have predicted a boy...and lost but he was thrilled with a girl. That night she received her very first nickname...Little Olive. Olivia had gotten up out of bed, walked back to the room with their list and demanded they choose her name so she didn't get stuck with such a horrible nickname.

It took two weeks but she finally received her name and her second nickname, Henrietta Olivia Bishop, Etta for short. That was the day Olivia first felt her tiny mind and knew their daughter would be special.

He bought her first outfit two days later, tiny cargo pants with a tiny jacket with a name on it: H. Bishop. It had been a joke but Olivia had laughed and smiled, kissing him for it. That was the first day Etta became part of Fringe Division...unofficially of course.


Her first day in the world had been rough, more like it had been three days...Olivia refused a cesarean section and labored seventy-one hours. Etta had been born seven pounds even, healthy and a full 10 on the Apgar scale so in other words she was perfect. Olivia had been exhausted from labor but she was a vision to him as she held their newborn daughter...their only child she insisted because she wasn't doing it again and he hadn't minded the promise because Etta was perfect and all they needed.

Her first day home...and night she didn't even cry, Olivia knew almost immediately when she needed something. It was one time he was thankful for the Cortexiphan...she could sense their little girl and appease her before cries began. Often she sent him to do diaper duty while she took to nursing, he honestly didn't mind.

Her first day at the lab had been...well boring. No case, just cleaning and he carried her around most times just holding her and telling her about the world she'd grow up in. Olivia scolded him for taking her into the lab, of not keeping her safely in the office...he slept on the couch that night so he never took her beyond the office door ever again.

First crawl had made him realize she'd left the office herself, Olivia found her and immediately started commending her on her crawling. Telling her to keep Daddy on his toes by running off, he only laughed and watched Olivia be the perfect mother. He knew at that moment he wouldn't trade either for the world ever.

First steps had been in Olivia's apartment, he'd turned around from the stove expecting to find her at the fridge playing with their 'naming' magnets that had become her toys. Instead he found her walking to him with a H outstretched to him. Peter chuckled at the irony and picked her up, happy to congratulation his baby girl on her stupendous steps...she'd taken ten. Olivia later berated him for not calling her right away when Etta had taken her steps.

Etta seemed to sense the unjustice in her previous achievement and set out to make things fair. Her first word had been Mama...they'd been in the lab when she started yelling the word over and over. That had Olivia rushing back into the office and laughing as she hugged the girl and spun around with her. He watched from the computer as mother and daughter bonded...he'd give anything to freeze time at that moment.

Her first birthday had been nothing special...birthdays weren't celebrated in their house so all they did was let her eat a single cupcake bought at the store and open a few gifts. Most were toys and she enjoyed them, her favorite became her first and only stuffed animal...a cow named Mr. Moo.


There weren't any more firsts that really were counted as major. A first drawing that hung in the office, a first try to dress myself moment...it'd been adorable when she had the clothes on wrong. Potty training had been an absolute breeze he didn't understand why parents complained. Etta's smarts had them wondering where she was one day at the age of two and they found her on the potty...they hadn't prodded or poked or asked about it. She'd done it all on her own...because she saw Mommy and Daddy do it so she went potty too.

The first big cry was on that fateful day when she'd been four when he looked her in the eye and she hugged him. Tears already in her eyes as she said she knew Mommy was in Heaven...she hugged him and told him it would be alright. Weeks later her screams would be the last thing he heard and he only wished to go back to the day Etta had said her first word when Olivia had been spinning around with her. They'd both been smiling that day...that day he'd hold forever.

Seeing her as an adult, he wouldn't get many firsts anymore...he'd hear about them but he'd never get to experience them. It angered him he never got to see her off to her first day of school, see her first A, never scare off her first date or see her graduate. He never got to hear about how the seniors roughed her up her first day of Fringe Division...at least on that day. He never got a lot of things and he knew what hurt more was that he'd get one or two in the future but Olivia wouldn't get any. She wouldn't get anything of Etta's anymore, not a smile or a hug...not a 'hi Mom' after so many years. She got four years of her daughter before she was turned over by someone that had once been like a father-figure to her after Nina had taken her in.


But the firsts continued, during the war and after. They'd managed to threaten the Observers back to their dying world...stating if any came again they'd use the device and destroy them all.

Two weeks after that Peter smiled yet turned away as he saw his daughter's first real kiss, she had admitted to two boyfriends in the past but it hadn't been really real because she was always so busy. They'd retrieved Simon from the Amber and she'd all but stated if he ever did anything like he had before, she'd shoot him herself.

He was there at her first dance, dancing with her at her wedding. He smiled realizing that the Bishop line would be ending that day but he didn't mind...because Etta needed to grow up entirely. He couldn't hold onto her forever...he'd have to let her find herself.

He was the first one she called, Simon not counting, when she found out. She told him if it was a girl she was naming her Olivia after her mother and if it was a boy, Peter after him. She was thrilled and told him she wanted him there when she gave birth...despite the awkwardness it would bring...Mom wasn't there but he could be.

Peter didn't know what honor he got when he was the first one to hold Baby Olivia Elizabeth Foster after her mother of course. He looked down at the beautiful girl in his arms and promised her everything he could provide for her...to be the best grandfather on the face of the earth and protect her no matter what.

In the end, she hadn't been his first child but she'd been the first and only daughter the only child he got to raise. He got her for four years and none of them he'd trade. He then got her for another fifty before death took him to join Olivia. That day of them when she said her first word would be engrained in his moment forever...of the day his beautiful soul mate spun their daughter around as laughter from both made him wish to freeze time forever.


A/N: Just thought I'd add my own after all that. Please review and let me know what you think.