All bow to the creative genius of Fringe - who own it all.
Engrossed in the pages of book he'd been wanting to read for ages, he hardly noticed the phone starting to ring. Kopp had written his favorite book and so naturally, Peter had wanted to read some of his other works during the years. Time permitting of course.
Keeping his eyes glued to the page to finish the paragraph he was on, he reached to the side table to grab a phone that wouldn't shut up on a lazy Sunday morning. A subconscious fear of being called to another weird case was percolating to the top, he tried to shut it out.
He managed to clutch the ringing phone in hand and answer it sight unseen as he finished the paragraph and held it to his ear.
"Bishop."
There was girlish giggling on the other end.
Peter blinked for a moment, startled. He looked at the phone. *Oh no.* he groaned internally. Olivia had left her phone beside his while she grabbed a shower in case an important call came through from Broyles. He was a little distracted as she left and had forgotten all about it - since she hadn't had any sort of clothing on at the time while she sauntered off.
"QUEEN!" Ella yelled back.
Uh oh. Queen Ella. It was a little game between the two of them, a play on his name. He played the part of her loyal servant.
"Yes your exalted-most-radiant-magestic highness." he smiled through clenched teeth. He and Olivia hadn't been together long and he had NO idea how to handle this call.
"Is my Aunt Liv there?" the unmistakable echo of a speaker phone bounced back on the line from Chicago.
"Um, she's uh... around, but she can't come to the phone right now. Can she call you back your magesticness?" Peter would always try to grovel with big impressive words, usually it would make her laugh. But not today.
"Oh. She didn't pick up at home. Is she working?" Peter's heart broke a little. She sounded forlorn and wistful. In a rush Peter realized how Olivia's absence from being 'over there' didn't just affect those who loved her in Boston. His heart went out to her.
"No, no sweetheart, she's just in the shower." he said quickly, "I promise you she'll call you back as soon as she's out. Uh... Or... maybe I can entertain your excellency in the meanwhile?"
"REA-lly" He heard Rachel exclaim in the background. "She's in the shower?" she said shower with such a smug leer in her voice he could picture it with ease. *crap*crap*crap* Peter thought. *Olivia's going to KILL me.*
He could hear Rachel laughing on the other end of the line as he clenched his eyes and pinched his nose in frustration.
"Yes, she's in the shower." He finally said.
"And she's where?" Rachel prompted, "Your place?"
"Ummmm... yes." Peter finally replied.
"Do you tell better stories than Uncle Walter?" Ella finally interjected. Her mother's implications were clearly over her head and it was beginning to bore her. "I have to fix Uncle Walter's stories but I can fix yours if they're bad too."
The kid was missing a little tact.
"That's very generous of you Ella. I'm not sure how good I am at stories." Peter was willing to tell the worst story ever just to get Rachel off the subject right now.
He heard the squeak of the pipes as the shower was shut off. It wouldn't be long now until he was off the most awkward call of his life - and probably into his first fight with Olivia.
"Well actually..." Ella continued, "I wanted to read my report to Aunt Liv. I got an A on it, can I read it to you too? Its about Boston."
"Sure, ok go ahead." If Ella was talking he wouldn't have to talk to Rachel. Maybe even until Olivia was back, perfect.
Ella's little voice read slowly but surely through the phone, as Olivia returned to Peter's bedroom wearing nothing but a blissfully small towel and a smile. But when she saw he was on the phone the smile vanished.
"Who?" She whispered.
ELLA, he mouthed silently and with exaggeration. RACHEL. Olivia's eyes went wide. Peter covered the mouthpiece with his hand. "I'm sorry, I'm SO sorry, it rang and I picked up without looking." he whispered.
He was holding the phone away from his ear as he said this and they could both hear a satisfied Ella finishing her report with a "The End."
Peter started talking in a rush. "Gee that was great Ella! Really neat! Your Aunt just walked in, do you want to talk to her now? ... Yeah? Ok!"
Olivia had her hand up and was shaking her head no slightly. Peter knew how much she kept from Rachel and how desperate her sister was for any nugget of information about Olivia. Privately, he ached because he thought she closed herself off too much from her. Hell FAUXLIVIA may have even told Rachel about her private life more than she did! He felt a little sick inside.
He held the phone towards her with a soft pleading look in his eyes, still covering the receiver. "C'mon," he spoke gently, "you were going to have to tell Rachel about us sometime, right?"
The panicked look in her eye softened somewhat, and she seemed to gain strength from his gaze. She sat down on the bed and extended her arm for the phone, her towel started to slip and she re-adjusted it self consciously.
Peter stood up out of the bed and kissed her full on the lips as he placed the phone in her hand. She had a bashful smile on her face as she put the phone to her ear. "Hi baby girl, hi Rach."
Peter's smile was radiant as he straightened up to leave the room. Few things could light her up with happiness like her sister and niece did. Their eyes met as he closed the bedroom door. It had been too long since he'd seen the comfort of her family reach her eyes. Impossibly, they both smiled even wider.
He let them be so that Rachel and Ella could have her full attention for awhile.
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