Fate Brought Us Together
Hi, this is my first fan-fic EVER :) I gave it a try, hope you enjoy it! Leave comments and suggestions. I hope to update as much as my schedule allows with being in my last month of college and all lol!
Happy Reading!
I do not own these characters. All for Shonda Rhimes!
January 14, 2011
Olivia stood in her kitchen with her screaming six-month-old daughter on her hip. She watched as the icing mixed for her currently baking cake, and then turned her attention back to her daughter. "Oh, Sweetie, those teeth must really be bothering you huh?" She walked to the freezer, pulled out a frozen teething ring, and placed it on the child's throbbing gums. Her five-year-old son came barreling through the kitchen door, wearing his New Orleans Saints helmet and Lance Moore jersey. She laughed. It didn't matter to him that the Steelers had knocked the Saints out of the playoffs, and that it was the 49rs and the Ravens playing in today's Superbowl. That boy was ready. He circled the table twice before running head first into the wall, making a dent with his helmet.
"Jake, would you come get your son before he busts through the kitchen wall? Bryce, honey, stop, please! JAKE, did you hear me?"
"Yeah, Baby, I heard you." He walked into the kitchen with his car keys in his hand. "I'm heading down to the market." He ran his hand over his daughter's dark curls. "Her new teeth bothering her?"
Olivia nodded. "And I can't give her any more Tylenol for two hours, poor thing. Bryce Ballard! Jake, take him with you...please? I'll never get everything ready...and I still have to get changed."
"What? You look fine. You're always beautiful." The timer went off for the oven. Olivia gave the baby to her father.
"Damn! Jake, it's either McKenzie or Bryce, but you are taking one of the kids with you."
"Livvie..." He was interrupted by his son slamming his helmet-clad head into the kitchen door, pushing it open and running through. The next thing they heard was a crash. "All right...I'll take him, IF you can get him out of that damned helmet."
"Hey, you bought it for him, Mister!" She headed the living room to see what had broken.
"Yeah, last year. When the Saints were IN the Superbowl!" He followed his wife into the next room. "Ah, great, my DOA award from '87. Bryce, get your coat, we're going to the store...let's see what you can break there." He handed the baby back to Olivia.
"Jake! He's only five!"
"And if his mother had been here at home raising him instead of running all over France, he'd know better."
"I was working and it paid for this house, if you bother to remember. While you were picking and choosing your jobs to earn your precious Director of the Arts awards, I was working my ass off! I left Bryce with you. He learned all this bullshit from YOU." She shifted the baby to her other hip and headed out of the room.
"Yeah, Olivia, that's it, run away. Things get tough for you, you just take off and shut down."
McKenzie began to scream again. "For your information, I am NOT running anywhere, except into the kitchen to finish baking the cake to take to YOUR friend's house." She stroked the baby's head and tried to comfort her.
"That's right, play the dutiful wife and mother. You know damned well you didn't even want her."
Tears welled in Olivia's eyes, as she hugged her daughter. "That's not true, Jake Ballard, and you KNOW it," she hissed at him. "I may have wanted to wait before we had another child, but I never once said I didn't want this baby." She turned away from him and stormed into the kitchen before letting the tears fall. She stood in the middle of the kitchen holding and rocking her daughter. "I love you, Kenzie, don't you EVER let anyone tell you any different. Ok baby?"
McKenzie simply laid her head on her mother's shoulder and whimpered softly, trying her best to drift off to sleep.
Jake appeared at the kitchen door holding Bryce's hand. "Liv, Baby, we're going. We'll be back in a few minutes. I'm sorry, Honey. I love you."
She leaned down, hugged her son, and tapped the top of his helmet. "Be good, don't get into trouble, or you'll miss the football game, you understand?" She stood up and hugged her husband. "Be careful, the roads might still be icy."
She returned to the oven to get the cake out and let it cool. She heard the front door slam and the Lincoln Navigator start up. A couple of minutes passed, and she heard the engine shut off, and then the front door opened. Jake was yelling, Bryce was crying. God, NOW what? She walked into the living room and saw Bryce sitting in his time out chair, facing the wall.
"Sorry, Baby. His mouth got him in trouble again. He's got a ten minute time out coming."
I wonder just WHERE he learned THAT? "What happened?"
"Your son still seems to think you need protecting from me. Once we got out to the truck, he told me off, but good." He walked over and put his arms around his wife. "Hey, I may be a first class jerk sometimes, but you know I'd never hurt you, right?"
Yeah, uh huh, whatever you say, you unfaithful jerk. No, she couldn't actually say that. "Right." She hugged him quickly, and then pulled away. "Be careful. We should all be ready to go when you get home." She watched him go out the door, then walked to the window and watched him drive slowly away. She felt a chill and suddenly felt like crying. She shook the feeling off. It had to be the fight. There had been so many of them since she came back to him. She thought that maybe the fighting would stop after being separated for a year, but nothing changed, except she learned a valuable lesson about make up sex. At least that's what Jake called it. She looked at her daughter's tear stained face. As much as she loved this child, it was not the time to have another baby, not with her marriage so rocky. She'd loved Jake since she was seventeen, but she was growing, and he was still a teen at heart. After a year away from him, she knew she was never really IN love with him. She looked at the clock. Jake would never know that she cut the time out short. She washed her daughter's face, and gathered both children onto the sofa and cuddled them as she began to read their favorite story.
xxx
Mellie Grant descended the stairs with her 16-month-old daughter in tow. She could hear her son and her husband arguing in the living room.
"Why can't I go with Bryce, Daddy?"
"Because he's going with HIS parents, and you are going to stay here with YOURS. Your mom has the afternoon planned."
"What's going on, Fitz?" She picked up the toddler and looked between her two men.
"He wants to call Bryce and go with him to some Superbowl party."
"Jerry, Sweetie, we talked about that, remember? It's a school night, we'll do something here."
"But, MOM..."
"Fitzgerald Thomas, that's all I want to hear about it. You can invite Bryce over next weekend."
"Ok. Can we have hamburgers for dinner?"
"I was just going to talk to Daddy about that. Honey, I thought I'd run to the market and pick up some things to make burgers and fries for dinner. That way we can all watch the game like we're at the stadium."
Fitz interjected, "That sounds wonderful; do you want me to go?"
"No, I'll go. Do you want me to pick you up some beer?"
"I want some!" Jerry's eyes sparkled with mischief.
"All right, that's ROOT beer for Jerry, and BudLite for you, Honey?"
Fitz kissed his wife. "That would be wonderful, Mel. Why don't I have Tom drive you?"
Fitz being a well-known modeling agent, decided to have a driver for his family.
"You're sure he won't mind?"
"Of course not, you know he'd do anything for you, My Darling."
"Great. Keep an eye on these two, Karen upstairs on the phone. I'll go find Tom."
"Last I saw, he was in the kitchen." He kissed his wife before she went off in search of their friend and driver.
She opened the kitchen door and found him finishing off a sandwich. "Tom, would you mind running me to the market?"
He looked up and smiled. "Not at all, Mrs. Grant. Can you give me about five minutes? I need to clean up really quickly."
"Absolutely. I'll run upstairs, get my purse, and change my shoes. You'll have to park the town car across the street while I shop."
Ten minutes later Mellie was in the limo on the way to the local market. Her heart began to race as she saw the familiar forest green Lincoln Navigator parked out front. Was it Jake? Or could it be his wife? No, she always drove the Range Rover, or her Audi. It had to be him. She wished for a moment she'd brought Alyssa with her. He hadn't seen her in months.
"Would you like me to come with you?" Tom was smiling as he opened the door for her.
"Oh, no thank you, Tom. I see a friend's car, and I'll probably end up boring you with girl talk." God, she hoped he bought that one. Why should she worry? Jake was a friend, nothing more. Jerry and Bryce were in the same class, they played together on weekends from time to time. He was a friend. She crossed the street and went into the store. There he was, looking as handsome as ever. For a split second, she found herself feeling jealous of his wife. They did make a beautiful couple. The too handsome for words photographer, and the drop dead gorgeous model.
He looked up and smiled when he saw her. "Mellie! Great to see you!" He looked around. "No kids?"
"She smiled and hugged him. "Good to see you, too. No, I left the kids at home with Fitz. How are Bryce and the baby...what's her name?"
"McKenzie...Kenzie. The kids are fine...well, Kenzie's teething, Liv's having an awful time with her, and Bryce is...well, Bryce. I left him sitting in time out, but I'm sure Olivia pulled him out as soon as I left."
"Are things any better?" She wasn't sure if she should approach that subject, but she missed their talks, and this was the best way to get him talking.
"Yeah, most of the time, if I'd just quit pushing her. I keep bringing up the separation, the fact that she didn't want another baby right now. God, Mellie, you should've seen the look on her face, when I said she didn't want our daughter. I think I would've hurt her less if I'd slapped her."
"Jake, you didn't..."
"No, I'd never hurt her like that. So how's Alyssa?"
"She's fine. She's home with her father."
"Mellie..."
"Jake, that's how it has to be, for now. It would kill Fitz, and your marriage."
"You're right. We need to get the kids together soon, Kenzie would love to play with Alyssa, and the boys love spending time together."
"I told Jerry he could invite Bryce over this weekend. I'll talk to Fitz, maybe you and Olivia could come over for an early dinner, and the kids could play. Olivia and Fitz could get to know each other better; they rarely see each other, with their work schedules."
"Well, with the baby, she'll be home more. She's agreed to take local assignments for a while."
They walked through the store and shopped for a few more minutes, catching up on the latest news and gossip. Jake paid for his purchases first, and carried them out to his Lincoln. He returned to help Mellie carry her bags. They walked out to the sidewalk, and Jake laid the bags on the hood of his truck, "Where's your car?"
"Across the street, Tom drove me." She pointed to the town car sitting in the parking lot.
"Nice. I ride in those for the premieres. Liv insists."
She laughed and gave him a hug. "Tell Olivia I'll call her early in the week about next Saturday. And Jake...buckle you seat belt BEFORE you drive off." She laughed again.
"Now you sound like Olivia. She's always on my ass to put the seat belt on before I start the car. I'll see you soon, Princess Alyssa."
She gasped and looked around. "Jake!"
"Sorry, old habits die hard. Have fun with the family this afternoon."
"I will, you have fun at your party. It's at Steven's right?"
"Yeah, well, with the Saints not playing, Kenzie teething, and Liv not wanting to go, this should be one dull evening."
"So stay home and make up with your wife."
"Are you nuts? This is the Superbowl! No football until September!" He hugged her and kissed her cheek.
"Be careful driving home."
"Careful is my middle name." He handed her the grocery bags and climbed into the truck. He started the engine and eased the car slightly out of the parking space. He smiled and waved at Mellie as he inched the vehicle a bit more into the travel lane. Damn, Olivia will kill me if I don't buckle this belt! He reached back to grab the buckle just in time to see the truck come swerving around the corner and head right for him. Oh, God, NO. Olivia! My kids! He felt everything go black as the truck slammed into the driver's door. As he lost consciousness, the Navigator rolled over twice, before coming to rest upside down in the crosswalk. The pain was unbearable. He opened his eyes; they focused on someone lying amongst crushed groceries. Mellie! He used all the strength he could muster to pull himself out of the wreckage and towards his friend. He reached for her hand, and felt her fingers twitch in his hand. She was alive. He could hear voices around him, someone was calling to Mellie. He looked over at her and she mouthed one word to him in a whisper…"Fitz". Then Jake's world went black.