"Daniela, Four! Do not wake your mother!" Fitz yelled to the 8 yr old twins that were racing through their Vermont home. It was an unusually cold day, even for Vermont. Schools had been closed the past three days due to the extremely frigid temperatures and the horrendous amounts of snow that had fallen. Fitz could tell cabin fever was beginning to set it.
Daniela Nichelle, or Dani as her mother called her was the liveliest of the twins. She had a fire and passion in her that could only be surpassed by her mother. Dani had always been a fighter. From the moment their mother had given birth to them ten weeks early, Dani fought, claiming her rightful place in the world.
Fitzgerald Thomas Grant IV or Four as his mother had dubbed him was more laid back in nature. He would take things in stride and very rarely gave his parents any problems. He did however have a possessive streak in him that had only been surpassed by their father.
When the twins were born, Fitz fell in love immediately. Dani had a head full of black hair which lightened drastically over the years to a golden brown. Four on the other hand was born almost bald. His hair began to grow in a shocking shade of bleach blonde, which darkened over the years to match his sister's much longer golden brown locks.
Both children had the most beautiful caramel complexion, all year long they looked as if they had the perfect tan. Their eyes were the most piercing grey either parent had ever seen. No matter who came into contact with them, it was always agreed that these two were the most gorgeous twins anyone had ever laid eyes on. Who could blame anyone for thinking such a thing? When you are the children of Olivia Pope-Grant and Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, not only were you cursed with ridiculous beauty, you were also a force to be reckoned with. It was a combination Liv knew would lead either child to the White House. The 8 yr old 5th graders had proven that time and time again.
Dani and Four raced down the hall and stopped when they came to their parent's bedroom. Both couldn't wait for Liv to wake up, and were secretly hoping they'd find her sitting up in bed. She had been in DC helping a client for the past week, and had returned home only a few hours before.
Dani peeked her head inside the door and sighed when she saw her mother was still asleep. She turned to Four and shrugged, wondering what they would do until she awoke. A crooked smile graced Four's face as an idea came to him.
"Let's go see what's in the attic." He whispered, liking the idea more and more with each passing second.
"I'm not going up there, it's dark!" Dani whispered back.
"What are you? Chicken?" Four asked, knowing that would get his sister to do anything.
"I'm not a chicken! Let's go!" Dani said as she ran into her room to grab her flashlight. Four went to grab his, and the twins made their way up into the attic.
The twins climbed their way up the stairs and wondered what they'd find when they got there. They pictured sheets covering furniture and thick layers of dust and cobwebs spanning the room, kinda of like the attics they would see in movies. They grew excited with each step they took, as they pondered if their attic would have spiders and mice as well. Imagine their surprise when they reached the top of the steps to find the most immaculate attic to ever grace any home. But with Olivia Pope-Grant as their mother, it really shouldn't have come as a surprise.
The attic was set up like many other rooms in the home. There was a sofa and a love seat in the shape of an "L". They were positioned right in front of a huge flat screen tv that hung on the wall. Dani sat on the sofa and immediately pictured her mother sitting in a living room of an apartment, alone and drinking her wine. Little did Dani know, that was the same sofa their mother would find comfort on as she engaged in one of her many late night phone calls with their father.
There were two oversized chairs against a window, one on each side of a bookshelf. They were the same chairs and bookshelf that once graced the former apartment of Olivia Pope.
On the far end of the attic, there was a desk. It sat in front of a wall of floor to ceiling windows which gave a perfect view of their 40 acres of land. The children weren't sure what pulled them towards the desk, but they knew that was where they wanted to go. Little did they know, they were conceived on that desk six months after their once divorced father had officially proposed to their mother. It was the evening before their wedding.
The twins didn't know much about Fitz's life with Mellie. They just knew that they were married and had divorced 2 yrs into their father's first term as president. He married their mother his third year in office, just before he ran for reelection, and they were born shortly after. They knew their dad and Mellie had a daughter Karen, and she loved them to the ends of Pluto and back. They honestly loved their big sister as well.
They had seen Mellie a few times, the most recent being at Karen's wedding. She wasn't someone they particularly wanted to know anything about. She seemed cold, distant, even in their 8 yr old eyes they knew she didn't really care for their mother. But like Dani told Four, that wasn't their problem.
As the children approached the desk, they were saddened to find that it too was immaculately kept. Four sat at the desk and pictured his mother sitting behind it years ago as she defended many of DCs elite. Little did he know, that was the desk that was in Liv's office. She had brought it to Vermont when the OPA had undergone major renovations.
"Hey Four!" Look what I found!" Dani yelled proudly only to be shushed by her brother.
"We don't want mom and dad to know we're up here!" Four yelled back as he walked to see what his sister had found.
When Four approached his sister, he gasped as he looked into the box his sister had pulled out of the corner. There were books, 15, maybe 20 that all had the word Olitz engraved on the top. Dani opened another box and smiled when she saw the book that laid across the top. She lifted the book out of the box and read the words across the front. "Diary of Olivia Pope".
The twins knew they shouldn't open the books, but they couldn't help but wonder what was inside. Deciding to go against everything they knew would keep them out of trouble, they opened the books labeled Olitz first. Each twin took three books and headed over towards the sofa. They opened the books and were met with numerous pictures of their parents together. On the first page there was a picture of their mom and dad standing in front of a poster that read "Grant For The People, 2004".
They continued to flip through the pages, looking at picture after picture of their parents on the trail. It was clear that they were in love, even then. They went through all six of the photo albums which had all been from the same time frame. There were many articles outlining their dad's road to the White House, and even articles on how their mother was the powerhouse that led him there.
They read articles about their mother as a crisis manager, a job she still held, but they knew very little about, and all about their aunts and uncles at the OPA. As they finished looking through the last album, they went to place them all back in the box. The last thing they wanted was for their mom to know they had been through her things. They agreed to flip the the remaining albums another day. They had just placed the last album back in it's box when they heard their mother calling for them.
The twins grabbed their flashlights and headed downstairs to greet their mother. As Four continued down the stairs, Dani turned back and grabbed the book that was titled "Diary Of Olivia Pope". She ran into her room and shoved it under her mattress before making her way downstairs to greet their mother.
"Mommy!" they yelled in unison as they made their way over to their mother who opened her arms and engulfed them both in a hug."
"How are my babies? I missed you both so much! Four, you seriously need to stop growing!" Liv said to her son who was now the same height as her. He was definitely going to be a tall one like his father.
"Mama, did you bring us anything?" Dani asked, giving her mother the same soft pleading doe eyes that Liv herself had used on Fitz many times to get her own way.
"Dani, you don't just ask mommy if she brought us stuff! You have to ask about her trip first doof!" The moment Four said the words, he regretted them as his much smaller sister tackled him to the floor.
"I will take you down Four!" Dani screamed as she pulled her brother's hair.
"Only because dad said I can't hit girls! You just better hope he doesn't change his mind! OOOWWW!" Four screamed as Dani pulled his hair even harder. The two began rolling around on the floor, causing Fitz to become nervous when they came dangerously close to Liv.
"Children ENOUGH! Watch your mother's belly and get off the floor!" Fitz boomed at the children who straightened up immediately.
"Sorry mama." Both kids said in unison, their saddened voices eating away at Liv's heartstrings.
"It's fine. You just have to be a little more careful. In a few months it will all be over and your little brother or sister will be here." Liv said as she felt the baby moving inside of her.
"It's a boy!" Four yelled proudly.
"All boys except daddy are stupid, I don't know how our brilliant mommy even had you! It's a girl!" Dani spat back. Once again the two were on the floor wrestling again.
"Fitz, kids, come here. The baby's moving."
The twins halted their movements immediately. Liv took their hands and placed them on her belly. Fitz joined in as well, and the kids jumped as the baby moved then gave a swift kick right to Dani's hand. After a few moments of being in awe by their little sibling, Fitz called everyone to the table as breakfast was finally over.
The four of them sat and feasted on a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, sausage, and fruit before heading into the family room to play a few games. They had decided on Monopoly first. Since the game now had electronic debit cards instead of money, no one had a problem playing. Before the twins would always accuse the other of cheating which would turn into a battle royale right on the family room floor. As always, Dani and Fitz teamed up against Liv and Four. Dani and Fitz won the first round while Liv and Four won the second.
After monopoly, the children decided they wanted to go outside. They had had enough of being stuck in their home.
"Daddy, do you wanna build a snowman?" Dani sang to Fitz knowing it would coax him into building a snowman.
"Sure, but are we going for Olaf or Frosty today?" Fitz asked with a crooked grin.
"Olaf!" The children yelled in unison. Fitz couldn't believe how one movie could thoroughly control a child's life. Fitz got the kids bundled up and took them outside while Liv prepared lunch.
After an hour, the kids raced in and sat by the fireplace while Fitz helped Liv bring them their hot chocolate and their lunch. Once the children were finished eating, they helped their parents clean up the mess before they all began a game of clue. Four won that game and Liv and Fitz decided game time was over as Dani was becoming cranky.
The kids migrated towards the Xbox, and Liv and Fitz watched as they enjoyed their game of Mine Craft. Fitz couldn't quite grasp the concept of a video game with such poor graphics holding the attention of the children. To him, it was like they were playing with Legos but through a gaming system. After an hour of the game, Liv called the family in for dinner. They sat around the table and Liv caught them up on how everyone was back in DC.
"I miss Ella and Uncle Cy and Uncle James mama." Four said suddenly sad.
"I do too. When can we see them?" Dani added.
"They will be up in a few weeks for Valentine's day.
Feeling like she needed a nap, or at least to relax a little more, Liv popped popcorn and made hot chocolate for everyone. She brought them all into the family room to watch Frozen. For some reason Four never wanted them to skip the previews as he always wanted to know what new movie was out there. Getting extremely bored, Dani decided to ask her parents a question that had been puzzling her.
"Mommy, what's Olitz?" Dani asked causing Fitz to spit out his hot chocolate.
"Where did you hear that Dani?" Fitz asked. He knew the children had been too quiet earlier. He just hoped the children weren't rummaging through their closet.
"In the a-" Dani began
"After school program we went to last month. Someone said it there." Four interjected, giving his sister an evil side eye, a move that wasn't missed by Liv or Fitz.
Liv and Fitz gave each other a knowing look but decided to answer the question anyway. It was innocent enough, and they figured one of the kids would slip and they'd find out the true location where they had discovered the word.
"Well kids. My name is Olivia and your father's name is Fitz. People played around with our names when your father and I first got together. After some debating, the nation agreed on Olitz. We were apparently the first political couple that people actually shipped."
"You mean like people do with tv characters?" Four asked somewhat grossed out.
"Exactly like tv characters." Fitz responded.
Seemingly satisfied with her mother's answer, Dani sat back as the movie began. When Let It Go began to play, Dani jumped up and began belting out the lyrics, only to have Four smack her with a pillow, telling her to take a seat.
"She has a beautiful voice, very powerful for her age. Don't discourage your sister Four!" Fitz chided his son who quickly apologized before sticking out his tongue at his sister.
They managed to watch the rest of the movie in peace and the twins were quickly shuffled off to bed so Liv and Fitz could have some long overdue alone time. Liv read Dani a story while Fitz got Four settled in. As the story came to an end, Liv kissed her daughter goodnight, turned off the light and closed the door.
No sooner than she heard Liv's footsteps fade away to nothingness, Dani jumped out of bed and retrieve the book she had stashed under her mattress. Dani opened the book slowly, as if something was going to jump out at her if she opened it to quickly. As soon as it was halfway open, she closed it shut. She repeated this step a few times before opening the book to the first page.
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Against my better judgment, I have decided to give into Cyrus Beene's pleas for me to assist on Governor Grant's campaign. I'm extremely nervous as I have created governors and even senators, but never have I done anything of this magnitude. I can't deny that a win of this size would definitely put my name out there. It's a long shot right now, but I think I can spin this and create the next president in the process.
Out of the four governors who are vying to be placed on the ticket for either party, I must say that I agree with Grant's mission more than the others. The only problem is that he doesn't seem like he's happy in his marriage. Family values is important to Republicans, it's why they vote foe who they vote for. Sure they have a daughter, but I think my main focus will be the two of them. Let's just hope I can turn that around within the next 283 days. I wonder if mom would be proud of me. Politics never were her thing. I think that maybe I got my apolitical attitude from her.
Anyways, til next time,
OCP
Dani heard shuffling in the hallway and quickly shoved the book under her pillow. As long as there was no school the following day, Dani would be spending the day figuring out the unedited story of how her parents met. It had always been a story that intrigued her as she'd ask either Liv or Fitz to tell it constantly, but now she would have the story through her mother's eyes. The little girl closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep with a huge smile on her face.
Hey everyone, I know I really shouldn't be starting another story now, but I had to get this thought out. Now, I know some of you may be nervous about Dani learning about the "true nature" of Olitz, but I assure you that anything Dani reads will be child friendly. Aside from what Dani reads, we will also have moments of Olitz recalling their past, along with some "mommy and daddy time" which will be a lot racier in detail. Also, Defiance DOES NOT exist here. This story will have some events from the show, but I won't be falling back on many. I will try my best to lay it out so there is no confusion between past and present. Let me know your thoughts and if this is something you'd be interested in reading more of.
