AN: I am so very sorry I didn't update sooner, I mean the holidays are over, but having to leave town to visit family for almost the entire break gave the worst case of writers block I've ever had and it took me forever to write this. Again, so very sorry, but here it is, I hope you guys enjoy it.

When Fitz returned from talking with Cyrus, the kids and Olivia were getting ready to finish watching the movie they had started the previous night. Fitz suggested they should watch it again from the beginning because he hadn't been there when they started watching it, he figured that way she would stay with them for longer.
She ended up leaving the White House after dinner, and took his clothes with her to wash them before returning them to him. She carefully drove home expecting to find quite a few messages on her answering machine from her sister and Abby about her brief disappearance, but she had no idea it was a bit worse. Olivia got out of her car and walked fast to the elevator, trying to avoid being seen, still very self-conscious about her attire. She unlocked her door and nearly had a heart attack finding the lights on and her sister sitting on her couch.

"Emily! What are you doing here?!" Olivia nearly screamed at her sister.

"I just wanted to check if you were coming home tonight" Emily replied calmly

"What are you talking about?" Olivia was trying to play it cool.

"Seriously Olivia just don't, you are wearing men's clothes and I am certain you didn't sleep here last night" Emily stated "After you called Harrison I thought you just came here after your meeting, but then I called you here this morning because you never have any food and since the roads were still blocked I was worried you would be hungry and alone, but I see that was far from the truth"

"Fine, I did spend the night at the White House" Olivia reluctantly admitted "Alone in a guest room" she added before Emily said anything.

"And you are just getting home wearing his clothes" Emily said, doubting her sister's words.

"How are you so sure this are his clothes?" Olivia said trying to distract her

"Aren't they?" Emily replied

"Well yeah but... But, it means nothing, I just needed to wear something appropriate to be outside in the snow" Olivia tried to explain

"Snow?" Emily looked at her in disbelief "You were out in the snow?" Emily couldn't remember the last time Olivia had agreed to play in the snow since they got older.

"His kids insisted and I figured it had been a while so I agreed" Olivia explained

"So you met his kids and just hung out with them" Emily was enjoying teasing her

"Yeah, they live there so I met them last night after I got to the residence and I watched a movie with them while he got there"

"Aww like a family, you waited up with the kids for the husband to come home from work" Emily said in a mock tone.

"Shut up Emily, James went to sleep before he told me which was my room so I waited to ask him" Olivia was getting annoyed because she knew where her sister was going.

"Right, and you couldn't ask anyone from the staff?" Emily said, Olivia struggled to find an excuse "I am so right, he is interested in you and you feel the same way about him!"

"Emily, stop making stuff up, nothing is going on" Olivia really wanted to ignore everything that happened but her sister made it very difficult

"Yeah, then explain the flowers" Emily had gotten up and closer to Liv

"What flowers" Olivia asked confused

"Those" Emily said pointing to Olivia's coffee table, she had been so distracted by the argument with Emily that she hadn't noticed. Emily had found them at the door when she got there. Olivia went for the flowers and looked for the card, she opened and started reading in silence.

"Thank you for an amazing day, looking forward to many more" Emily said out loud as Olivia read. She didn't know what to say so she just went to sit on the couch and her sister did the same.

"Liv all mocking aside I do believe he is interested in you, and I'm sure he would keep his distance if you were not, but that's not the case or is it?" Emily told Olivia in a more serious tone, knowing it was the only way to actually get somewhere.

"Yeah, but why, I mean, he could have anyone and..." Olivia had a hard time grasping that the President had a thing for her.

"Olivia don't sell yourself short ok, any guy would be lucky to have you, just allow yourself to like him" Emily said reassuringly

"But he is the President" Olivia argued.

"So what, that is just his job, not who he is, I've never met him but he seems like a good guy, isn't he?" Emily just wanted Olivia to be happy so she wanted her to see what was in front of her.

"He is good, more than good actually" Olivia had to be honest, and the truth was she thought he was amazing.

Emily made Olivia promise she would think about it and then proceeded to tell her sister all about her day, Emily wanted every little detail and tried her best to not tease her about it so she wouldn't shut her out. A few minutes into the conversation Liv got a text from Fitz saying he hoped she got home safe and wishing her a good night, she texted back thanking him for the flowers and also wished him a good night. Emily had to bite her tongue to not sing Fitz and Liv sitting on a tree.

Olivia did find a few messages from Abby and made a mental note to talk to her soon, also she had to brief the entire team on the assignment. It was almost midnight when Harrison arrived to pick up Emily. Liv finally went to bed allowing her mind to give into thinking about Fitz and what could happen between them.


The next morning Fitz got up early and happy, he was eagerly waiting for Liv to let him know when she would be coming to the White House again. She had told him she needed to brief her team before meeting again, and that his case didn't seem too hard. He really wanted to get that out of the way, he was confident he didn't need the so called crisis to have her around anymore and at the moment it just felt like it was getting in his way.

Cyrus was still brooding from his argument with Fitz the previous day, and he kept telling himself that anything happening between Fitz and Olivia would be bad news. He thought about his image and Liv's past to have an excuse to ban the relationship. He wanted to talk to Olivia, knowing he could actually get to her, but after Fitz' outburst the previous day he actually feared what might happen if he found out.

Fitz was aware Cyrus had to be up to something, even if he made it look like he would stay away like he was told. He decided he had to make his intentions clear to her before Cyrus had a chance to do anything, and tell her to ignore Cyrus and not care for anything he said. However he was also aware it was easier said than done, whenever he was around her, he felt like his brain stopped functioning properly and he certainly didn't want to say or do something stupid.

After his morning briefing, Fitz went back to his office and decided to text Liv to say good morning, she replied almost immediately telling him good morning too, that she hoped he had a good day at work and a smiley emoji. It was something very simple but it made them both feel giddy, like high schoolers with a crush. Olivia was just getting to her office when she received the text, so she walked in with a huge grin on her face that didn't go unnoticed by her friends.

"Good morning guys" she said happily.

"Good morning" Stephen and Abby replied in a much more serious tone, giving Liv a questioning look and then looking at each other to check if either of then knew anything. Harrison just looked down and smiled to himself.

"Is there anything you want to tell us?" Stephen asked her.

"Actually I do, lets go to the conference room, we have work to do" She went to the kitchen to find Quinn and then asked Stephen to get Huck, all but Harrison were very confused.

"We got a new client, a very important client actually" She started "Quinn, this is the part where we test you as a part of this team, you can't say anything about this client outside of this group" she said turning to Quinn, who just nodded repeatedly. Olivia pulled out a photo from a folder and went to paste it on the wall, when she moved they all got clear visual of who their new client was.

"Bloody Hell" Stephen exclaimed.

"The President?!" Abby said in disbelief.

"Wow" was all Quinn could say.

"This will be interesting" finally came out of Huck who barely ever spoke.

Harrison was the only one to not say anything and not show any surprise, and Abby was the only one who noticed, so while the others were talking about how cool it was she spoke up to question him.

"Why are you not surprised? You already knew right? Why does he get to know before we do?" the last question was directed at Olivia. She didn't want to tell the whole story to everyone, she wanted to talk to Abby alone, so she had to be careful.

"He just happened to be there when I got the call, and I wanted to know what it was all about before I told the rest of you." they were all contempt with her explanation, Abby still eyed her suspiciously, but dropped it for the moment.

"So what did pretty boy do?" Abby had a thing for always thinking the worse.

"Nothing bad Abby calm down, he just wants us to work on his image, it's been doing poorly since his divorce" Olivia explained. "Now, he is not going to make the reason for the divorce public, and it has been a while, so we need to focus on showing all the good he is doing and on how he is as a father. I will see if I can bring someone to the White House or if I have some of the files brought here. In the meantime start working on some strategies" The team started moving to their offices, she told Huck to stay for a bit and Abby that she would to to her later.
"I need you to do something, but I need you to wait for me to give you the green light, just until this afternoon. I have a bad feeling the former First Lady is up to something. She knows already he won't bring her down publicly and I'm afraid she will try to take advantage of that and do something against him. So I want you to look into her, what she has been doing, or who has she been talking to, but I want to ask the President if it's ok with him" Olivia just thought it was very weird that Mellie had been so quiet for so long, that she hadn't attempted to start her political life yet, so she feared it meant she was plotting against Fitz. Huck was the man to put on that job, but she had to ask Fitz if it was ok with him first.

Huck left for his office and Olivia or her's, she wanted to tell Fitz she was planning on going to the White House later that day, and thought it was more appropriate to call instead of texting him, but really she just wanted to talk to him. He answered on the second ring.

"Hello Olivia" she felt shivers down her spine after hearing his voice.

"Hello Mr. President" her voice was just music to his ears.

"How are you?" he asked her.

"I'm good thanks, how are you?" she replied politely.

"Better now that I'm talking to you" she was quite glad he couldn't see her blushing.

"So… Hmm… I was just calling to… for the meeting later today, I mean if you can" she stammered, trying to get to the reason she made the call.

"You are welcome here anytime, but I'm glad you called, so I make sure I'm free for you" he said with a flirty tone.

"Ok, I was thinking 4pm, and also I wanted to ask you if it was ok if I bring someone else from my firm to check out the files and maybe take some of them for the rest of the team to work at OPA" He figured it was more than ok, he would start meeting her friends and maybe he would get more time with her if someone else was taking care of the work.

"Sure, bring anyone you want, just tell me the names for security clearance" Fitz replied

"I haven't decided yet, how about I text you later" She still had the very difficult task of deciding who would be coming with her.

"I'd prefer if you call, but a text is fine" Olivia blushed, again, but she couldn't help the smile appearing on her lips

She awkwardly ended the phone call and tried to get back to work, she had to finish some stuff for other clients. When it was almost time for lunch she asked Abby if she wanted to order some food and eat in her office so they could talk. Of course Abby agreed, she was desperate to know what was going on. She even told Liv they should start talking while waiting for the food.

"Spill" she told Olivia as soon as she closed the door behind her.

Olivia sat down and started telling her the whole story, since thanksgiving, how they met, that he hired the firm because of his divorce, Abby also said he hadn't really asked her number for work. Then Liv figured it was best to just get it all out and told her she had basically spent the last two days at the White House.

"Well he is the only republican I don't hate so I approve of him" She said to Olivia after she was done telling the story.
"So you agree with Emily" Realizing they wouldn't allow her to stay in denial, and even though she didn't want to accept it, she knew she would thank them later.

"Yeah, it's clear as water to be honest, now when do I get to meet him?" Abby was curious to meet him, but more than that she wanted to make sure he wasn't going to hurt her friend.

"Seriously Abby? You can't just casually ask to meet the President" Olivia was not sure that was a good idea.

"Well we do work for him, or does he only want to do business with you" she said the last part in a suggestive tone.

"Abby! God you are something else. And yes we all work for him, I guess you can come with me this afternoon, just behave please" Olivia finally decided her first tag along, since Fitz said she could bring anyone, she decided two people were ok.

Their food got there and they just kept talking about Fitz, because Abby wouldn't let the subject drop. Olivia asked her friend for advice on who else should join them to go to the White House, and they agreed to take Stephen since he had more experience with public image, Harrison was more for legal matters and Quinn was the rookie.

Abby wouldn't leave her office so she decided to text Fitz instead of calling him, he replied saying he would take care of it and that he was looking forward to seeing her.

In the time they had before going to the White House they discussed a few ideas for Fitz that revolved around the Holidays. Olivia had gone through the plans for the National Christmas tree lighting and the rest of the holiday events and there wasn't much. She considered it was a perfect opportunity for Fitz to show who he was and they seemed to be wasting it. It was already Thursday, the lighting of the tree was the next day so she just hoped they still had some time to make a few changes and add a few things.


After 3pm Fitz was barely able to get any work done, he was too distracted thinking of Olivia, but he had to do his best to hide it because Cyrus was there. Fitz was hoping to dismiss Cyrus before Olivia got there and make sure he stayed away the whole time she was there; but then he knew it was out of the question when Cyrus said he wanted to know what they were doing about his image and that he had until 4:30. Fitz didn't want to have a fight with his chief of staff so he decided to go about it a different way.

"Cyrus, remember what we talked about yesterday?" He wanted to remind Cyrus to behave.

"Yes sir I do" Cyrus said through gritted teeth.

"Well I meant what I said, if you say anything to her, you will regret it" Fitz was calm, but serious, he had a stern look on his face and it made Cyrus feel uneasy.

"I know" he replied.

"I just want to make sure you behave later, I don't want to see myself in the need of having you removed from the premises" Fitz was smiling, but he was dead serious and Cyrus knew it, he had never seen his boss that way and it actually made him hesitant to take any action against Fitz' plans.

Fitz moved the conversation back to work like nothing had happened and Cyrus had no choice but to do the same and put the conversation behind him and focus on the task at hand. A few minutes before the clock marked 4pm Lauren knocked on the door to announce the arrival of Olivia. Fitz gave a final deadly look to Cyrus and walked around his desk to be ready to meet her.

As Olivia was walking in Fitz caught glimpse of Stephen's hand in the small of her back leading her inside the office, he felt a pang of jealousy course through him, his smile faded and his jaw clenched. The familiarity between them was making him uncomfortable. Abby was right behind her just taking it all in, trying to asses the situation; she followed Fitz stony gaze fixed on Stephen, he and Olivia were both oblivious to it, wrapped up in their conversation.

When Olivia finally turned to look at him she also noticed the hard expression on his face and looked at him confused, he realized she was looking at him and he turned to look at her. The moment their eyes met his expression instantly softened and he gave her a warm smile. Olivia blamed his previous demeanor on Cyrus and didn't give it much thought, but Fitz was seriously regretting telling her she could bring anyone.

"Profesor Beene!" The tension in the room was broken by Stephens loud greeting to Cyrus.

"It's Chief of Staff now, but you can call me sir" he said with a light growl. "Seriously Olivia, why didn't you bring your brother in law" Stephen had been rather a troublemaker back in law school, and Abby hadn't been much better. "Miss Whelan, you are here too…" he said with dread.

"Cyrus, be nice, they are my team" Olivia chastised him, he just mumbled whatever and she rolled her eyes.

"Mr. President, this is half of my team, and very good friends, Stephen Finch and Abby Whelan" Fitz greeted both of them politely, but gave Stephen an unnecessary extra strong handshake, he felt the slight pain in his hand and wondered what he could have done to anger him; however as much as he was disliking Stephen he recognized he provided a something else for Cyrus to chew on.

"Ok, let's get to work, we need to get this plan started already" Cyrus thought that if they focused on work, it would get in the way of whatever Fitz was planning.

"You are right, so I need Stephen to get a few files from the ones we went through on Tuesday, and We need to discuss a few changes to the holiday plans with the President" She motioned to Abby as she explained to Cyrus.

"Cyrus can go Stephen to get those" Fitz suggested, that way he got rid of both, but he didn't see the flaw in his plan.

"Yeah but neither of us know exactly what she needs" Cyrus replied.

"How about I go with you to tell you what to look for, then you work on making a list on all the stuff we don't need to repeat and I come back here for the more pressing matters" Olivia suggested, and it made Fitz feel better, she would go with Stephen but only briefly. "So Abby please behave while I return" she added. Abby knew that was her chance to talk to him and just nodded at her friend.

Cyrus grunted his agreement, realizing he was being left out, but as hard is was to accept he was happy Abby was there so Fitz and Olivia wouldn't be alone. They made a beeline out of the Oval, leaving Abby with the President. He invited her to sit on one of the sofas and he sat opposite to her.

"So you are one of Olivia's best friends" Abby nodded

"So you are the guy who wants to get in her pants" Fitz just looked at her in shock.

"Excuse me" Fitz said not believing the nerve of the woman. "How did you even reach that conclusion? You met me 5 minutes ago!"

"So you are not interested in her?" Abby asked him

"Well yeah I am, but I'm not trying to get in her pants, my intentions with her are honest, I really like her so I want to get to know her and court her properly, I', quite serious about her." He told Abby with confidence.

"Ok, I was just testing you, and I guess you passed" Fitz looked at her like she had grown another head.

"First, you didn't have me arrested, and second, you sound trustable, but just know that if you hurt her, the secret service won't be able to protect you from me" Fitz nodded, actually feeling a bit afraid of her.

"I swear, I would never do anything to hurt her" Fitz assured Abby. "Just calm down please"

"Look, I'm just very protective of her, experience requires me too" she explained, leaving Fitz wondering if he should be looking for an ex to punch in the face.

"Moving on, how did you find out, did she say something? Or do I show it so much?" He wanted to know how Olivia felt.

"A bit of both, she told me all that happened since thanksgiving and she just looked so giddy and excited, and considering all your actions, yeah you show it that much" Fitz was about to respond but she interrupted him "Also you were giving poor Stephen a murderous look when we got here, but please leave the guy alone, he is like a brother to Liv, nothing more"

Hearing Abby, he felt a bit ashamed for his actions, and decided to try his best to be nicer to Stephen in the Future. He used the time to find out more things about Olivia, Abby told him she did like roses but that she also loved carnations, jasmines and gardenias. Fitz asked about her favorite food, and her friend said she loved Italian, but that cheese and spinach ravioli and lasagna in any type were her favorites. Abby also said her friend had a sweet tooth, which he already knew.

He was also told that even though she liked romance she wasn't a big fan of exaggerated grand gestures, that she liked simpler things. Fitz took the advice with pleasure, finding it very useful for future planning. Right before Olivia returned, Abby hurriedly mentioned a few things about his public image strategy.

"Did she behave Mr. President?" he asked Fitz about Abby and he smiled.

"Yeah she was ok"

"I was just talking to him about how lame are the current Holiday plans" Olivia glared at Abby.

"They are not lame, they are just missing something" she told Fitz.

"No it's true they are lame, but I have been very busy and the staff has no idea what to do without a First Lady here" His team had simply cut out all the things the First Lady does, leaving barely anything.

"I figured, but I think you are perfectly capable of doing many of those things, and that's what we want to show people" Olivia began to explain. "My first suggestion is for tomorrow" Olivia proceeded to tell him about her plan. She wanted him to do the reading of "A visit from St. Nicholas" besides doing his speech. She knew there were children invited to the event. That was fairly simple, she knew he would say yes, but the second part of her plan included the First Children.

"I know you don't want to showcase your kids or use them in any way, but they are your kids and it gives the wrong impression that you leave them out of everything" she began with caution, when he didn't refuse right away she took her cue to continue "I was thinking maybe they could do the reading with you" she finally said "Only if they want to, of course"

He sat there quiet for a while thinking about her plan, what she said wasn't totally crazy and maybe the kids would actually like it, but he was still unsure about involving them.

"Don't think of it as a strategy, it's just that there is nothing wrong with including your children in things you do every once in a while. You guys might enjoy it, aside from the fact that it will help your image" She made her case and really hoped he didn't get mad, she was well aware of how protective he was of his kids.

"I guess it doesn't sound that bad, and the theme of this holidays is family, not that it has worked so well" Fitz said reluctantly. He had been in charge of doing all the Holiday decisions the First Lady is supposed to do, but really he delegated to a lot of people, because he was busy running the country so people were quite unimpressed by the White House holidays that year. "I'll just call them in so we can figure this out.

Olivia waited patiently for Fitz to call the residence and ask the nanny to bring the kids down to the Oval. When he was done she continued with her suggestions.

"I saw they canceled the reading at the Children's National Medical Center, that is a very old tradition and I think you should do it" She really believed he could make some space in his agenda and it would make a huge difference.

"God I hadn't realized they had canceled that" Fitz knew the tradition, but it didn't cross his mind it was canceled because he didn't have a First Lady, he realized he needed to have a conversation with his staff and ask them to stop canceling everything before asking if he could do it.

"There is also this thing sometimes is done with kids from different organizations, they come here to decorate cookies and well also eat them" Abby added "Maybe you can do that too"

"Yeah I can definitely make time for those, I will work something out with Cyrus" Fitz found her ideas quite good and he thought people might actually stop hating him. "Is there anything else I could do that was canceled because im divorced?" He asked Olivia

"There are a few, but I don't know how much can be done now, because it would be very short notice, but I think you could greet a couple of choir groups too, and we need to make sure all the parties and open houses are a success." Fitz nodded in agreement.

A few minutes later Karen and Jerry walked into the room, they were excited to find out why Fitz had asked them to come to his office in the middle of a work day, they always wanted to spend more time with him.

"Hey dad" Jerry greeted him. Karen went up to him to give him a hug.

"Hey guys" Fitz said after he kissed their cheeks "I wanted to ask you something" he went to sit on the couch with them.

"You remember the poem 'Twas the night before Christmas?" Fitz asked them

"Yeah I love it" Karen replied and Jerry nodded.
"Well I wanted to ask if you guys would like to read it with me at the Christmas tree lighting tomorrow"

"That would be so cool, can I get a new dress?" Karen replied excited

"Yeah it would be pretty cool" Jerry added "Will you practice the reading with us, cause there will be a lot of people watching so we have to say it right"

"I'm not sure there's time to go shopping today, but I will see if I can work something out, also you might want to get a new coat because it will be very cold and yes of course I will practice with you"

The kids then turned to Olivia and greeted her warmly, they asked if she would be joining them for the tree event the next day, and she said she would probably be at her office or there at the White House seeing polls and doing work stuff. Fitz had other plans, he had decided to save her a spot right where his family is supposed to be seated and he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Fitz excused himself to go see if the kids could be taken somewhere to get new clothes that afternoon and the stayed with Olivia and Abby. She introduced them to her Abby and, and then they just talked to Liv, asking when she would hang out with them again at the residence and when she would take a ride on Marine one. Abby just gave Liv funny looks about her interaction with his kids.

When he returned he told them to go finish their homework fast so they could go out, he told Jerry he could also get a new outfit, he said he didn't mind but Karen was very excited. The kids said goodbye to everyone and left them to keep working. Olivia needed to discuss what she wanted Huck to do, but she wasn't sure Abby could be there so she asked her to go check on Stephen. When they were finally alone she hesitantly brought up the issue.

"Mr. President, hmm… there is something I wanted to discuss with you" Fitz looked at her and began getting worried.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked.

"Not really, it's just a delicate subject, it's about your ex-wife" Fitz nodded understanding why she was going around the point.

"Ok, just tell me what is it?" he encouraged Olivia.

"I want to have one of my guys look into her deeply. She has been to quiet since she left and I have a bad feeling about it. From what you told me, I thought she'd want to start her political career or do something, but she hasn't. That leaves me thinking she has something planned against you, knowing you won't use what you have against her publicly" Olivia explained her concerns, and he thought it made perfect sense.

"You are absolutely right, it hadn't even crossed my mind, but that sounds like her" Fitz said with dread. "Do whatever you think it's needed, I trust you"

"We got this" she said to him and smiled reassuringly, then she got her phone out to text Huck he had the clear. Fitz waited while she texted Huck, knowing it was his chance to ask about the tree lighting.

"Since we are alone, I wanted to ask you something" He began "I want you to come to the tree lighting tomorrow, as my guest"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, I mean, I should be working, seeing how people are taking it and everything" she tried to get out of it.

"I'm sure your team can do it just fine" he got up and went to sit next to her "Please, I really want you to be there, it would mean a lot to me" he grabbed her hand and gazed into her eyes. She not only lost her will to say no, she also lost her ability to think or move.

"Ok" she said barely above a whisper.

"Thank you" me whispered back.

Fitz was still holding her hand and sitting really close to her when Abby came back in the room with Stephen in tow, they looked at them and she smiled. Stephen turned to give Abby a questioning look and she just nodded.

"Is that why he tried to break my hand?" Stephen asked Abby in a low voice and she nodded again. Then she cleared her throat loudly and made them both jump. Olivia wanted to move away, but she was at the end of the couch and he wasn't moving.

"You got all you need?" She asked Stephen awkwardly.

"Yeah, I got it" he said suppressing a smile.

"You know what, I think we should go work on some statements, and plan a couple of interviews and you guys can work on redoing the script for the christmas message video" Abby suggested, gaining a glare from Liv and a thankful smile from Fitz.

"That is a great idea, you can use the same conference room where Stephen was working" Fitz told them.

"Ok, lets go" Abby grabbed Stephen's arm and led him out of the room leaving Fitz alone with Liv.


They did work on the script for a while, but then the conversation began diverting and they ended up talking about christmas traditions. Both of them were enjoying their time together, simply getting to know each other better. Olivia told him that her family had been doing a christmas song karaoke on christmas day for quite sometime and that she love it because it gave them a bunch of fun memories. She was laughing heartily telling him about the time her siblings fought over a song and knocked down the tree; he thought she sounded like an angel.

Fitz told her that when he was young his family barely ever stayed home for the holidays or with more family, that they usually just traveled somewhere snowy because his mom loved it. It was nearing 6:30 pm and Olivia said it was time for her to leave so he could get back to work. He didn't want her to go, he didn't care if he had to work extra late if meant she would stay for longer, but then she reminded him he had to go practice the reading with his kids.

"I had a great time today Olivia" He said as they stood up.

"I did too Mr. President" she replied with a smile.

"Could we please drop the 'Mr. President'" He took one of her hands and got closer to her.

"I don't think so" she answered nervously.

"Please" He pleaded, his eyes boring right through her.

"I will think about it" it was the second time she told him that, he figured it was better not to push her and he nodded.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing you tomorrow Miss Pope" he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.

Olivia walked away in daze, she barely registered when he asked her to say goodbye to her friends for him. She willed her brain back to reality as she walked to find her friends, she told them to pack what they needed fast so they could leave, and they shared a laugh when they saw her stare into nothing as she waited for them. As was expected they teased her the entire ride back to the office and only agreed to stop when Quinn was present, because she was still earning their trust.


Fitz went up to the residence at 7, the kids were having dinner a bit later than usual because they had gone out so he was able to join them. After eating they went to take a shower and returned eager to hang out with their dad. First they split the story in three and decided what each of them would read, Fitz had printed three copies and they highlighted their parts. He had to admit the whole plan had turned out better than he expected, whatever happened the next day or with his image, he'd had a great time with them, and for that it was worth it.

He went back to work after he put the kids to bed, and he didn't care, he wouldn't even mind if he had to spend all night working if it was for spending time with Olivia or his children. For the first time a very long time he felt good about life, and even his parenting had been positively impacted and it was all thanks to her. When he finally went to bed he fell asleep making plans for asking her out and feeling better than ever.

After spending the afternoon with Fitz, Olivia decided to take on her sisters advice and allow herself to like him, to be excited about being close to him and just look forward to the next time they would meet; even if she still had trouble believing he wanted her of all people. She went to bed thinking of him, as it was now usual.