That week saw Fitz and his father start to get into the meat of the dilemma. First they drafted a request for paternity of the the fetus sent over to family court. Next they had their head of security Huck try and gather video footage from the bar and hotel where Fitz had been that night. Fitz went over and cleared out his closet so he would have no reason to pop back over and exacerbate the situation with Olivia.

She came back that Tuesday with the kids. Fitz came over and picked them up to have dinner with him and his parents. She answered the door and she couldn't look at him right as she called her kids to let them know their father was there. He didn't push anything, so many thing were so up in the air and before he wanted to talk to her, he wanted to have some answers.
The kids came down with their overnight bags.

"Guess what Daddy?" Both kids exclaimed.

"What munchkins?"

"Mommy said we can spend the night with you and Grammy and Grandpa! Its like we are having a sleep over with our Daddy!"

Although his kids were seven. He wasn't sure they were grasping totally what was happening or Olivia had tried to make this as painless as possible. Either way he was grateful to see his kids, and that she was putting in some effort. Whether it was for her or the kids he really appreciated it.

"That's right. Grammy and Grandpa missed you these last couple of days. Daddy missed you a whole lot. I needed you guys to scare the monster from under my bed."

They both laughed at how their father was shaking his knees when he said it.

"Ok, times a wasting. Grammy's got your favorite meal ready for you guys and if you're really good, Grandpa said he would make you milk shakes."

"Yeah! Let get going Daddy!" Karen yelled.

"Hey one mention of Grandpa's milkshakes and you forget about your mom." Olivia said.

Both kids dashed back in and gave her a hug and a kiss then ran back to the car.

"Liv, can you send your calendar to my phone so I know your schedule so we can start making a schedule to hand the kids off?"

She shook her head yes as she stepped back into the house and closed the door. Fitz just stood there with tear pooling in his eyes. He stood their for a moment to get himself back together and then headed for his car.

On the other side of the door Olivia was a mess. She slid down the door and sobbed until she couldn't anymore. The house was to quiet for her. She grabbed a bottle of wine and dialed Stephen.

Fitz and the kids made it over to his parents house and as soon as they came in Fitz's Mom could tell something was wrong. To outsiders and the kids he looked fine, but a mother always knows when their child is hurting.

The kids had burst through the door yelling for their grandparents and giving their usual hugs and kisses as their grandmother asked their grandfather to take them into the dining room, she and Fitz would be in in a moment.

She walked Fitz to the kitchen and asked how it went.

Fitz relayed her reaction to him.

"Mom, every time I see her I feel like my heart is breaking into little pieces. The only one to blame for this is me. I can't even bring Mellie into the equation with what I did. She's right, the minute I started flirting with Mellie, I was cheating on Liv. I did this no one else."

Martha's heart broke at the state of her son and daughter-in-law predicament. On the one hand she felt so sorry for her son, but on the other, she knew the pain Olivia was in. You couldn't tell, but her and Gerry had been on the brink of divorce over the same situation. It took a long time for her to trust Gerry again, but they crawled over bricks of pain to stay together and Fitz and Olivia would have to also if they wanted to stay together. Martha was less sure of Olivia though. She knew her background.

"Listen son, if you want your family you're going to have to fight like hell to keep them. Olivia has one foot out the door of your marriage. You have to regain her trust or you'll never be together again."

Fitz eyes started to pour showers of tears from his eyes at his mother's statement.

"I know Mom, but how? She can't even look at me much less talk to me. Tell me how can I get her to at least talk to me?"

"Fitzgerald I raised you to be a fighter. You and only you can find a way back to your wife. You know her better than any of us. Let that lead you back to her."

With that she patted him on the arm and left the kitchen to join her grandchildren.
Fitz leaned over the counter to take in all that his mother had said and promised himself that he would die trying to get his wife back.

"Hey Liv."

"Hey Stephen. Are you busy? I hope I'm not interrupting another date of yours."

Stephen had slipped on his boxers as he left his bedroom with his date spread eagle naked on his bed.

"No Liv, I always have time for you. That means anytime. How's it going?"

"I'm just a little lonesome tonight without the kids. Fitz picked them up and is keeping them overnight. I thought that he and his parents needed to see them. They were really excited about going over to their grandparents. That got me to thinking about Fitz's parents and where do I stand with them now. We use them when Fitz is out of town and when I'm on call."

"Listen Love, you need to have a talk with his parents to see where you stand. If their as nice as you always say they are, then they'll understand where you're coming from. Do they know your background with your father?"

"Yeah, Martha and I have had a few hearts to hearts about that subject. She seemed to have an understanding of how I felt. I never pushed her, but I always thought that she might have her own experience with infidelity."

"Wow. That's harsh. So how are you? Really."

Liv blew out a breath, "I feel like I have a hole where my heart used to be. I'm hanging on right now for the kids. If I didn't have them I would have fallen apart already. Talking to you is saving my life. I don't know what I would do without you Stephen."

"You'll never have to know. How about I come down this weekend and we can sit around eat terrible American food and watch movies like we did in school."

"Sounds like a plan. Hey, it's getting late and I won't keep you longer. Early morning for me and probably for you too."

"Call me anytime Liv. I mean it. You don't have to go through this alone. Night Liv."

"Night Stevie."

Stephen smiled as he hung up. "It's going to be different this time Olivia. I let you get away, but this is my second chance and I'm not letting it go."

"Hey Stevie, who are you talking to?" His date asked as she entered the kitchen naked.

"Nothing Love, nothing at all."

Fitz woke up to a foot in his back. He rolled over to see his son in his bed. He couldn't remember him coming in the night before which was rare. When he was away from Olivia he didn't really sleep very deep.

Fitz stared at his son. He looked so much like his mother, but his personality was all him. He started to brush his hands into his son's hair to wake him up. He stopped as soon as he saw a little smile creek on his face. Fitz started tickling him.

"Stop! Daddy! I'm still trying to sleep!"

"Really! Well, for someone who is trying to sleep you sure are making a racket."

"When exactly did you get into my bed last night?"

FJ (Fitz Junior) as he liked to be called. He adored his father and anything he could do to emulate him was all right with him. After his laughter subsided, he told his father why he was in his bed.

"I thought that you would be missing Mommy, so I thought if I slept with you, you wouldn't be so sad."

Fitz's eyes filled with tears. He pulled his son up and hugged him so he wouldn't see him cry.

"Thank you buddy. I really need that. I slept like a log thanks to you."

He pulled his son back after he wiped his eyes to give him a kiss on his forehead and a smile.

"Now go wake up your sister, Chef Daddy is on duty this morning. We will be making the Grant specialty."

"Pancakes?!"

"You got it! Now scoot!"