Author's Note: Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I'm so sorry this took so long.
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
It was still dark later that morning when Olivia stretched her arms above her head and exhaled deeply, her eyes fluttering open as she collapsed back against the pillows. Jake was still sleeping soundly next to her, his face buried in their shared pillow as he slumbered. She rolled onto her side, her eyes focusing in on his facial features as a wave of undiluted bliss washed over her. She was happier than she could ever remember being, and the man next to her was responsible for all that joy.
They had stayed up until well past two in the morning talking about the future, and when Olivia had finally managed to calm herself enough to rest, it was nearly four. A quick glance at the clock informed her that she hadn't even slept for two full hours, but the baby was just as awake as she was, and while the wedding wasn't scheduled to start until early in the afternoon, Olivia was much too aware of just how much effort went into preparing for a wedding after serving as a bridesmaid over a dozen times in the weddings of friends over the years. There was also the matter of dealing with the press, which was no small job.
Olivia was still lost in her thoughts when Jake began to shift next to her ten minutes later. She smiled slightly as he blinked sleepily, his exhausted smile still full of happiness as he beamed up at her. She breathed in when he pressed a kiss to each of her fingertips before cupping his cheek in her hand and pulling his face towards hers. With a hungry kiss and a quiet greeting, the first day of the rest of their lives together began, and they allowed themselves to enjoy their alone time before they finally bothered to get the day officially started.
By the time that they were dressed and ready for the day, it was nearly eight o'clock. They had plans to meet with Fitz and Naomi for breakfast at nine before traveling to the church to help Victoria get ready, so they headed for the door and made their way down into the hotel's dining space. Olivia almost immediately caught sight of Naomi and Fitz, and she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling as she caught sight of just how close they were to one another despite the separate chairs that they were seated in. She nudged Jake, causing him to laugh lightly as they made their way towards the table. Naomi was beaming and chatting excitedly when they took their seats, Jake holding Olivia's out for her. It didn't take long for the chatter to be cut off with five words that no one had expected to hear come from Olivia Pope's mouth.
"Jake and I are getting married." She spoke the words casually, as if she was commenting on the menu. The reactions of her dining partners made her blasé attitude worth it. Fitz nearly choked on the chunk of pineapple he had just begun to chew, Naomi reached immediately for her class of water as she began to cough up orange juice, and Jake sat there silently, his eyes the only dead giveaway of his happiness as he calmly took a bite of the yogurt that Naomi had pushed in front of him when he had taken his seat.
Naomi was the first to recover from her incident. "Despite our reactions, we are very happy for you." She smiled widely. "I didn't think it would happen this weekend, but I called this the moment that he told me about you, Liv. And now that I know you, I'm very glad that you're the one he chose to do this with. And I'm not going to cry, I promise." Regardless of her words, Naomi blinked rapidly several times before smiling even more brilliantly. "Jake, you're getting married!"
"I was actually expecting Fitz to have the bigger reaction," Jake murmured to Olivia, causing her to laugh slightly. "Thanks for the enthusiasm, Naomi." He turned towards his other friend. "You're not going to cry, are you?" he asked amusedly, an air of wariness in his tone.
"No, I'll let Naomi be the overly emotional person at the table for now. Nai, you do realize she's almost halfway through a pregnancy, right? She's not crying. What's your excuse for the waterworks?" Fitz teased, causing Naomi to glare at him. "Now that I've gotten over my own irrational pettiness, I can see what everyone else always has, and I'm very happy for the both of you. Your child will be very lucky to have parents like you in his or her life." He cleared his throat. "You might want to hold off on the engagement announcement until after the wedding, though. Otherwise, Victoria might kill both of you."
"She wouldn't kill Liv," Jake assured him mildly, taking another bite of his omelet. "But we won't steal their spotlight."
"Yeah, I want at least one member of his family to like me by the end of this weekend," Olivia joked, causing Naomi and Fitz to laugh. They all conversed for a bit longer, talking about everything from the weather outside to the political atmosphere of the country. By the time that Olivia and Jake finally made their way back upstairs to change for the wedding, they were hard-pressed for time. They were also still deliriously happy.
The wedding was scheduled to begin at precisely one o'clock, so Olivia and Jake made their way to St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Fairfax at around eleven. Olivia's peplum jacket and lacy dress were both in appropriate shades of navy blue, and her hair was pulled back into a loose chignon that brought attention to her highlighted face. She clutched Jake's hand nervously as she climbed from their vehicle once they arrived at the church, ignoring the waiting reporters as she laughed at his murmured commentary. While he wasn't in the wedding, there were still things to be done, and Jake left her to her own devices in the lobby of the church after pressing a quick kiss to her cheek and making her promise to call him if she had any issues during the time that they were apart. She settled in one of the pews, her eyes focused on the sights around her. When in places such as this, it became glaringly obvious to her just why she believed that there was a higher power. This amount of peace couldn't be produced by human thought alone.
Olivia wasn't alone in the chapel for long. Philippa made her way towards her, a soft smile on her face. "My son told me you were in here. I informed him that it was awfully rude to leave the mother of his child to her own devices in a new place." The older woman settled on the pew next to her. "I know that last night was probably overwhelming for you, but I wanted to let you know that we were all delighted to meet you. We've been waiting for Jake to bring someone home for years, and he speaks so highly of you that we couldn't wait to find out if you were as amazing as he said. I can already tell that you are." She smiled again. "I want to thank you privately for making my son so happy, Olivia. I didn't do all that I could to ensure that he was shown how to be happy when he was a child, but it's obvious that he now knows what happiness is, and I think the credit for that belongs to you."
Olivia smiled sympathetically. "Ms. Martin, you did the best you could. Every happy memory Jake has ever shared with me about his childhood involved you and his sister. That counts for something." She glanced around the chapel. "He has always believed in this, in something bigger than him. Before I met him, before I saw the..." She trailed off, her smile widening. "He's good. Your son is a good man, despite what he's gone through. He's the reason that I believe in something bigger than all of us, because simple evolution didn't create a man like him. He has unrelenting faith and shows acceptance unlike anyone else I've ever met. You raised him. That's worth something. And as the woman that loves him, I want to thank you. Thank you for fighting for him so many times, Ms. Martin."
Philippa smiled. "He's worth fighting for, isn't he?"
Olivia returned the smile. "Yes, he is."
They both turned at the sound of Jake walking towards them. "Okay, ladies, it's time to go calm down the bride…." He trailed off, glancing between them. "Did I just intrude on something serious?"
"No intrusion," Philippa replied. "Jake, please tell your girlfriend to call me anything other than Ms. Martin. You're family now, Olivia. It's Philippa or Pippa, never Ms. Martin. In this family, that would get extremely confusing."
"Sorry," Olivia apologized quietly, causing Philippa to smile at her. "Jake, why do you look sheepish?" she asked suspiciously as she turned towards her fiancé.
"I'm trying to make a decision," he replied, hesitating for another moment before speaking quickly. "Mom, Liv and I got engaged last night."
Philippa glanced back and forth between them before nodding. "I'm very happy for the both of you. My instinctual reaction will follow the after-party this evening. For now, let me say what no one else can until they know. Congratulations." She smiled at Olivia. "Welcome to the family, sweetheart." She then headed for the dressing rooms that held the bridal party, leaving Jake and Olivia to stare at one another.
"Well, that was easier than I thought," Jake commented, extending his hand in Olivia's direction. "Ready to go face the madness?"
"What do you think I do for a living?" The rhetorical question made Jake laugh as he pulled her along behind him. "We're not going to tell her that Fitz and Naomi knew before her, are we?"
"Well, I don't have a death wish and neither do you, so…no. No, we are not." Jake glanced behind him. "You doing okay?"
Her reply was completely honest. "I'm doing amazingly, Jake."
The smile that took over his face was impossible to ignore, and Olivia beamed up at him as he walked in the direction of the dressing room, talking about this and that the entire time. Happiness felt better than she had ever imagined possible.
An hour and a half later, Jake and Olivia had finally managed to escape the antics of his cousins and aunts in the dressing room. They were seated in the second pew on the left side, both facing forward, taking in the sights around them. The groom began to enter moments later, his smile full of hope, and Olivia couldn't help but smile back. It was nice to see honest love on days such as this. When the bride began to walk down the aisle with her father, the dam broke, and Jake chuckled quietly as he extended a tissue in her direction. "I thought you weren't a hopeless romantic," he murmured as the priest began to speak.
Olivia shook her head. "This romance isn't hopeless," she murmured back, and Jake smiled down at her for a moment before they both turned their attention to the blissful couple before them.
The ceremony lasted less than an hour, and the guests immediately made their way towards their hotels to change into more formal attire before attending the reception. This gave the photographers the opportunity to snap official photographs of the wedding party and the guests prior to the after-party. When it came time for the after-party to begin, Olivia changed for the third time, slipping into a scarlet gown and ruby jewelry and pulling her hair into a chignon. She couldn't help but feel beautiful as Jake's eyes found her and never left as she made her way down the stairs.
The after-party was much more intimate, with the couple sharing a dance at the beginning before the throwing of the bouquet and garter commenced. Olivia unwillingly made her way onto the floor for the bouquet toss at the insistence of Jake's mother and aunt, her eyes widening in shock when she caught the assortment of flowers easily. When she looked over at Jake, he only winked, extending a hand in her direction and pulling her into his arms for a dance as soon as she was within his reach. As she rested her ear against his chest and listened to the steadiness of his heartbeat, she realized that this was what true bliss felt like, and she couldn't be happier to finally be given the chance to experience it.