Chapter Nine
Vivi was awakened the next morning to the smell of french toast and a voice singing Aretha Franklin's Natural Woman. She knew that it must be her grandmother Maya, Mia had told her that their grandmother woke up early in the morning to cook breakfast and sing up a storm. With a sigh she slipped out of bed and went to use bathroom. After she was finished she walked out of her room and downstairs to the kitchen.
"Morning grandma." Vivi greeted wrapping her arms around the older woman. It was a novelty having a grandparent, her fathers parents had died long before the twins were born.
"Good morning baby." Maya replied pressing a soft kiss on the girls forehead. "Your momma had to go into the office early. She said she'll be back for lunch and the two of can spend the rest of the day hanging out."
"The sounds good. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"No baby you can seat on down and keep your grandmama company." It was silent for a moment as Vivi watched Maya move around the kitchen effortlessly. "You know I heard you on the phone pretty late last night."
Vivi stopped in her tracks, her eyes growing wide as she looked at her grandmother.
"Oh right that was my friend Hannah." The lie fell easily from her lips. "We met at camp and became very close. She was just calling to say hi to me."
"Hmm, pretty late to be calling someone." Her grandmother declared with a hand on her hip as she cocked her head to the side.
"Tell me about it, but she lives half way around the country so she called at like 8 o'clock her time."
"Well the two of you need to work out some kind of schedule. It's summer now but you won't be able to keep up late night phone calls when your back at school."
"I know." Vivi quickly with a bright smile.
"Good girl." Maya replied as she turned back to the meal she was preparing. "Now why don't you get some plates and some orange juice. Breakfast is almost ready."
Maya placed a plate of scramble eggs in front of her and Mia had to force herself against shivering in disgust. There were many food items that Mia hated but scramble eggs had to be top ten.
"What's wrong." Maya asked,
"I hate scramble eggs."
"Since when?" Maya asked with wide eyes.
"Since um summer camp."
OOooooOO
Mia quickly decided as she and Fitz walked from the stables back to the main house that she could get use this. They had traveled from their home in Stanford to the Grant family ranch in Santa Barbara. The ranch was as beautiful as Vivi had described back at camp.
The two story colonial sat on 260 acres, with an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, an indoor basketball court, a theater, a large kitchen, twelve bedrooms, and ten bathrooms. Her room was large, with the one of the most comfortable beds she had ever slept in.
"Already tired of spending time with your old man?" Fitz questioned her noticing that she had gone into her own world as they walked back toward the ranch.
"Of course not dad." She replied wrapping her arms around his wrist. "I just...if I ask you a question will be honest."
"Of course I will sweetheart." He promised inwardly cringing, he wasn't exactly ready to have the sex talk with his eight year old truth be told he didn't think he would ever be ready for this particular conversation, but he had made a promise and he would be completely truthful.
Taking a deep breath Mia took a step away from her father. "How did you and my mother met?"
For several seconds Fitz was certain that he had heard wrong. Vivi hadn't asked about Olivia in years not since she had found that torn up wedding photo. All of a sudden he really wished that she had asked him a sex question.
"Your mother?" He repeated the word as his mind instantly went back into time nine years ago when he had first laid eyes on Olivia Pope. "Why are you asking sweetheart?"
"It's just..." Mia fumbled as she worried on one of her nails. "It's just you never talk about her, and I was just wondering."
"Right." Fitz nodded as they walked into the house. He sat down on a nearby couch and patted the seat next to him for Mia to seat in. "I'm sorry I don't talk about your mom a lot Vivi. You know you look a lot like her, you have your mom's smile. Your smile lights up a room just like your mom's does."
"Really?" Mia questioned surprise in her voice. She had never noticed the similarities between she and her mother and no one had ever told her.
"Yeah really." Fitz replied wrapping an arm around her shoulder and placed a gentle kiss atop her head. Mis sighed, burrowing herself deeper into her father's embrace the sound of his heart beating against her ear relaxing. "Your mom and I met during Governor Carlson reelection campaign. The governor was a friend of your grandfather Big Jerry, and your mom was doing a favor for your Uncle Cyrus."
Fitz sighed a little as he was pulled back in time eight years ago. Olivia Pope had taken his breath away the first moment he had laid eyes on her. She had been giving instructions to one of the communication assistant on television etiquette. She had been passionate, dedicated and amazing.
"Was it love at first sight?" Mia asked smiling as she listened to her fathers wistful voice. She didn't know a lot about love, only what she had seen on television, and she was certain that her father was still in love with her mother. She couldn't wait to tell Vivi during there nightly conversations.
Fitz laughed a little at his daughter, "Yeah Vivi I fell in love with your mother at first sight."
"Did she fall in love with you at first sight?"
"I'm pretty sure your mom fell in love at first sight too." He smiled a little Olivia had tried to fight the attraction between the two of them she lived in Washington D.C., and he lived in California. There relationship would have an expiration date, but Fitz had been determined. One date had laid to two and before they knew it Olivia was spending more time in his apartment then in her hotel room.
He thrown caution to the wind when he had proposed to her. It had been one morning in bed, one of the few mornings when Olivia had woken up before him, she had been naked the sheets wrapped around her thin frame, a smile on her face, and he had known in that moment that this was how he wanted to wake up every morning. So he had proposed and she had said yes. They had gone to the courthouse a few days later she dressed in a simple white wrap dress, and he in a dark suite. Before he had known Olivia had announced she was pregnant with the twins. He had never been excited or so terrified in his life. He couldn't have known that within a year he's happy life would be forever changed.
OOooooOO
"So what do you think of this one?" Olivia questioned her daughter as she pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans. They still had a ways until it was time for back to school shopping, but Olivia had always liked to get ahead start on things.
"Nice, I like them!" Vivi replied with a bright smile as she took the jeans out of her mothers hands and held them up to her body as she looked at herself in the mirror. It was such a different experience shopping with her mother, then it was her father. While her father would rather get in and get out her mother took her time going through ever rack in search of the perfect outfits. "I think I need them."
"I agree put them in the keep pile." Olivia declared, the 'keep pile' was a selection of clothes laying a top a nearby chair.
"Mom?" Vivi questioned as she returned to her mothers side.
"Yes sweetheart?" Olivia replied looking at her daughter who was nibbling nervously on her lower lip.
"Do you...do you ever think about my father?" Stopping what she was during Olivia turned to her daughter with wide eyes. Of all things she had expected her daughter to ask her questions about her father had been at the very bottom of her list.
"Were in the world is this coming from?"
Vivi shrugged her shoulders as she folded her arms, "I was just wondering."
"Of course I think about your father." Olivia said cupping her daughters face in her hands. "Every time I look at you I see your fathers eyes staring back at me."
"Where did you guys on your first date?" Vivi questioned with a small smile she had always known that she had her fathers eyes but to have confirmation made her warm.
"Our first date?" Olivia repeated the question, and a small smile formed on her lips as she recalled her first date with Fitz. "Your father took me to this Italian restaurant called Mama Lucia's. The owner was a friend from college and we had the best spaghetti, bread, and wine in history."
"Did you fall in love with him after your first date?"
"So many questions." With a small smile Olivia moved over to the area where they had formed a keep pile and walked toward the register.
"Sorry mom I just...everyone else has a dad and I just wanted to know a little bit about him."
Looking at her daughter once more Olivia felt the familiar sting of tears forming in her eyes. Blinking them back she smiled softly at her daughter. "It's okay sweetheart you can ask as many questions as you want too about your dad. In answer to your question I did fall in love with him after that night. Anymore questions?"
"Nope." Vivi replied a bright smile on her face. She was now positive that her mother was still in love with her father. And soon they would all be together as one big happy family.
OOooooOO
Authors Note: Hi guys! Its been a super long time since I last updated this story, but I still love these characters and this plot! Last year my mom and my grandma passed away within weeks of one another. And because life is short I made a promise to myself that I was going to get back into my writing and complete all of my works in progress. Today would have been my moms birthday so I decided to post a chapter today in honor of her. I hope you guys like this latest chapter, and as always please review!
~SabrinaWhitmore
