This is a short chapter but i felt that it was an important one. Happy Reading!

Chapter 10

Maya Pope was cooking dinner when her husband, Eli, walked into the house slamming the door behind him. "Your daughter has lost her damn mind."

"What's the problem now?" She was starting to get annoyed with his antics.

"She has a new boyfriend and now suddenly she doesn't need me."

"Ok."

"Ok? That's all you got to say is ok. Your daughter is away at college with some new guy that we don't know anything about. She is going to trust that he will take care of her. She has decided not to move back home and take the job I had lined up for her. She has basically jumped feet first into the real world and all you have to say is ok."

Maya stopped cooking and looked at him, "Liv is a bright girl. She knows that she needs to start making decisions for herself. We have to let her grow up."

Eli stared at her for a minute. "I. Don't. Believe. It."

"What?" she asked.

"You know about the guy. You've met him, haven't you? She called and told you about him and you lied to me."

"I didn't lie to you. I just didn't tell you."

"Bullshit. You lied to me."

"Yeah just like you did with the tracker. I didn't find out until after you did it. If I lied, so did you."

"She is going to get hurt. This guy will use her and leave her high and dry."

"You don't know that. He has sacrificed his entire future to be with her. They care about each other. She is happy and that is all that matters to me."

He grumbled and said, "You know I hate navy men."

She smiled and said, "My father hated you too."

"When she crashes and burns, I won't be there to pick her up. She won't get one dime from me. As far as I am concerned, I don't have a daughter anymore." He walked away towards the bedroom leaving Maya in the kitchen to finish cooking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Their first week on their own was a major adjustment period for Fitz and Liv. When they were in the Hamptons, they were able to spend all of their time with each other but now their time was divided between work and school. They only had one car for now which Fitz had to use daily for his drive to and from the base. He would leave every morning at 4:30 am for PT (Physical Training). Afterwards he would shower and change into his uniform at the base. His met all the members of his unit on Wednesday. He was introduced in a formal military ceremony. Most of them knew who he was because his picture had been plastered on every national news channel. Big Jerry was angry and refusing to comment about his relationship with his son. Even though they all knew, no one dared to ask him about it because he was their second in command. They knew above all, they had to respect his rank and position. Fitz would eat lunch at the base. He and Liv would call each other between her classes or whenever they had a break. He received lots of attention from the women on the base but his heart belonged to Liv. She was his love. He would leave work at 5 pm and drive to the apartment. He was always so happy to see Liv. Coming home was the best part of his day.

Liv's schedule was a little more flexible but she had to adjust from her previous routine. Since she didn't have a car, she had to catch the bus to campus. She used to go home when she had gaps in between her classes but now she would use that time to study at the Library. She tried to be finish with all of her work by the time Fitz got home so they could spend some quality time together. She asked Cyrus if she could work a few more hours in the week so that she could make more money. He said yes. Lately Fitz and Liv had been too exhausted to have sex. She would cook dinner every night because they didn't have any money to go out. Fitz's father cut him completely off. Liv's father had closed all of her accounts. They only had $117 to their names and they would have to make it until pay day which was next week. Liv could tell that Fitz was struggling with life on a budget. This was a make it or break it period for them.

They were lying in bed that Saturday morning. Both were awake but no one was talking. This was the first morning they had to just lay there and enjoy each other's company. Fitz was on his back staring at the ceiling while Liv rested her head on his chest. She was rubbing her hands all over his body. She loved being able to touch him. He rubbed his face and let out a huge sigh.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Nothing" he mumbled. That was a lie.

Liv propped herself up on her elbows so that she could look him in the face. "What's wrong?"

He sighed again, "I feel like a complete failure."

"Baby, you are not a failure. Why do you say that?"

He turned towards her, "I am supposed to provide and take care of you and I can't do that."

"Baby, it takes time. We are adjusting. You are working and just haven't gotten paid yet. They said it will take a month for you to get your bonus so we just have to be patient.'

"But I hate knowing that you have to ride the bus. I hate not being able to take care of you. You deserve so much more than what I am doing right now."

She sat up and crossed her legs on the bed, "You are who I deserve. You are who I love. I trust you and have all the faith in the world in you. We will be okay."

He grabbed her face, "I love you and I promise to make it up to you."

"I got you. That's good enough for me." He pulled her down to him and starting kissing her.

DING! DING! She pulled back from the kiss. He whined, "No, don't read it now."

"But it could be important." She grabbed her phone and started reading her message.

"Well, I am going to start the shower. Care to join me?"

"Yeah" she said not looking up from her phone.

He went into the bathroom and started the shower. He was taking off his shirt when he heard her scream, "Oh my God!"

He rushed out of the bathroom worried that something bad had happened. She was in a trance. "Liv, what's wrong?"

She just looked at him unable to form any words to speak. She handed him the phone to read the message for himself.

He looked and saw that it was an email from her mother:

HI LIVVIE! I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU SO MUCH. I KNOW THAT YOUR LIFE HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY AND THAT YOU ARE IN A TRANSITION PHASE. BUT I AM YOUR MOTHER. I LOVE YOU AND THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE. YOUR FATHER IS ANGRY AND HE WILL PROBABLY STAY THAT WAY. DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU FROM DOING WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU.

YOU AND FITZ HAVE MADE LIFE ALTERING DECISIONS. THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE INCLUDING YOUR FATHER THAT ARE HOPING THAT YOU WILL FAIL. I WANTED TO TELL YOU THAT SUCCESS AND FAILURE ARE A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE. IF YOUR RELATIONSHIP DOESN'T WORK, IT WAS NOT A FAILURE BECAUSE YOU TRIED. YOU AND FITZ HAVE ALREADY SUCCEEDED BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE WOULD FAIL TO TRY. YOU TOOK A CHANCE ON EACH OTHER AND I AM PROUD OF BOTH OF YOU. SO NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, I WILL STILL LOVE YOU AND BE IN YOUR CORNER.

I KNOW THAT YOU TWO MAY BE STRUGGLING FINANCIAL WISE BECAUSE YOUR FATHERS ARE COMPLETE IDIOTS SO I HAVE DECIDED TO HELP. WHEN YOUR GRANDFATHER DIED, HE LEFT YOU SOME MONEY FROM HIS WILL. I NEVER TOLD YOUR FATHER ABOUT IT, INSTEAD I PUT IT IN A TRUST. I WAS GOING TO WAIT UNTIL YOU GRADUATED FROM LAW SCHOOL BUT I FIGURED THAT IT WOULD DO YOU SOME GOOD NOW. YOUR GRANDFATHER LOVED YOU AND WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO STRUGGLE AND NEITHER DO I. SO BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR MAIL TODAY, YOU SHOULD FIND A CHECK FOR $100,000. I HOPE THIS HELPS YOU OUT TREMENDOUSLY. I WANT YOU TO SUCCEED IN EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. TELL FITZ THAT I SAID HI. CALL ME LATER. MOM

"Oh My God" was all that Fitz could say. He was in a trance like Liv. He slowly walked to the bed and sat down. "Oh My God." He looked at Liv who had tears running down her face. He touched her cheek and broke her trance.

She looked at him in disbelief. She couldn't get any words out of her mouth. He smiled and said, "Have I told you how much I love your mother?"

That brought a smile on her face. She dove at him kissing his lips. She couldn't believe it. She was so forceful that they lost their balance and fell on the floor. They couldn't stop laughing. Five minutes before they had felt defeated but now, they were on top of the world. $100,000 was a far cry from the millions that Fitz was used to but it was a start. He didn't like making his Livvie struggle. He rolled on top of her and kissed her some more.

Her mother's words gave them strength. They are trying. They made the jump. They were not alone in a world that they felt was hell-bent on destroying them. He pulled away and said, "What do you want to do first?"

She put her arms around his neck, "First, we are going to finish that shower together. Then I am going to make love to my hot, sexy Navy boyfriend. After that, we are going to get me a car."

He smiled at her, "That sounds like a plan to me baby."

Later that day, Liv came home in her new Mercedes C350. It was smaller than her last car but it was what she wanted. She knew it didn't have a tracker on it and she felt secure with her choice. She picked everything including the color. She chose the light blue because it reminded her of Fitz's eyes. They were happy and looking forward to their lives together. Next week was probably going to be stressful as well but now they had a little extra hope and faith. There was no doubt they belonged together. Now it was time for them to decide what to do with the rest of their lives.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Wanted to update it earlier but my kids had their soccer games tonight. Thanks for reading.