December 27 – 5 days before the wedding

Olivia and Fitz knew breaking the news of their upcoming wedding to Karen and Teddy would go the easiest, and it would be a toss-up as to who give them a harder time, Mellie or Rowan. They already told Karen and Teddy yesterday when they arrived at the White House Residence for their post-Christmas visit. They told Karen first while Teddy was playing in his room since she was older and the three of them would probably have a more detailed conversation, and that was the case when they told Karen when the wedding was going to be…

Flashback

Karen looked at her father and then Olivia before asking "Are the two of you getting married on New Year's Eve because Olivia is pregnant?"

Olivia and Fitz exchanged a glance before Olivia replied "Yes."

"Ok. You know Mom is going freak out when she finds out…"

Mellie "freaking out" was what Olivia and Fitz were preparing for as the two of them waited for her to arrive at OPA. Neither one of them was nervous about breaking the news of the wedding to Mellie, and they knew they would be taking a chance in Mellie being able to keep quiet about the wedding, but given the choice of telling her before it happened as an act of courtesy or her finding out after the fact, they would rather deal with Mellie's wrath and hysterics before the event. They would already be dealing with some negative media fallout from the secret wedding, they didn't need the comments of an angry bitter ex-wife added to the mix.

With Rowan, Olivia decided it was best for the three of them to meet at her apartment since it would be neutral territory. Olivia didn't want to put Fitz in the position of entering into the home of the man who was responsible for his son's death, even if the man was going to become his father-in-law. Conversely, Olivia didn't want her father to simply walk into the White House to meet with them since the White House was Fitz's home and Fitz didn't need to put into the position of having to welcome his son's murderer into his home.

Olivia and Fitz's plan was they would meet Mellie in the morning at OPA and see Rowan in the evening. However, they were only able to reach Mellie to actually schedule a meeting. Olivia had been trying to reach Rowan since yesterday but hadn't been able to even after leaving a number of voice messages on his cell phone.

When Fitz told Cyrus he needed to have his schedule cleared in the morning so he could go with Olivia to OPA to meet with Mellie to tell her the news of the wedding, Cyrus with his macabre sense of humor asked if he could come along so he could see Mellie get arrested for threatening the life of the President. No doubt Cyrus would use it to dismiss Mellie's credibility as images of a disheveled Mellie in handcuffs surrounded by law enforcement officers appeared on TV screens across the country, a stark contrast to the images of a triumphant Mellie with her filibuster.

The OPA gladiators offered to be at the office to provide support and/or extra protection should Mellie get physical. However, Olivia had the gladiators work on their assigned tasks as part of the wedding planning – Marcus was meeting with his cousin Janel to discuss the party rental and the menu for the pre-ceremony cocktail reception and after-ceremony dinner, as well as meet with their cousin Kevin on the floral arrangements for the wedding while Quinn and Huck were busy arranging for a van rental and going to the wine shop and supermarket to purchase the beverages they needed. Since it was the holiday season, they didn't want take the risk of the wine shop and the supermarket being out of stock should they wait until the day before New Year's Eve to make their purchases.

Since both Fitz and Olivia had Secret Service agents with them, they had sufficient protection in the event Mellie should get physical. After all, the agents were trained to tackle and they would tackle Mellie if it was warranted. While neither Olivia nor Fitz wanted any harm to come to Mellie but if she should get violent, the agents would have no choice other than to subdue her.

Fitz glanced at his wrist watch and saw it was 8:55AM. Olivia asked Mellie to meet her at OPA at 9AM. When Olivia called Mellie to set up the meeting yesterday, Mellie was so eager to meet with Olivia that Mellie offered to meet with Olivia yesterday, rather than waiting a day later. Olivia suspected Mellie's eagerness to meet was based on the presumption they would be meeting to talk about Mellie's presidential campaign and getting it launched. Olivia hadn't bothered to clarify as to what the meeting was about out of the concern Mellie wouldn't show up. Also, Olivia knew she needed to clear the air about her being Mellie's campaign manager for her bid for the presidency which would be a resounding "no" since Olivia would be taking on the role as First Lady, as well as being pregnant. Olivia being Mellie's campaign manager while being First Lady would be the biggest conflict of interest imaginable in presidential elections – it would create the impression the White House was paving the way for Mellie to be Fitz's successor. The fact that Mellie was Fitz's ex-wife and had been former First Lady didn't preclude her from being POTUS, even though some might argue being former First Lady did not create a presumptive right to the presidency, either.

The two of them, along with their agents heard the elevator bell ding. Olivia and Fitz knew it would be Mellie exiting out of the elevator.

"Why don't you stay here while I go out and see Mellie first," said Olivia. The two of them had been waiting inside Olivia's office.

"Sure."

Fitz sat on one of the sofas waiting for Olivia and Mellie and could hear the two of them exchange pleasantries through the open office door. Judging from Mellie's tone, she sounded like she was fawning over Olivia. Fitz raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes slightly when he heard Mellie's gushing. From what Karen told them, Mellie was on an incredible high from the filibuster. Adding the anticipation of Olivia taking on the job of being her campaign manager, Mellie was probably on cloud nine.

When Olivia and Mellie entered Olivia's office, Fitz stood up and wished he could have pulled out his cell phone and to take a photo with of Mellie's expression when she saw him. Whatever happy expression she had when she first arrived at OPA was replaced with surprise disappointment. "Fitz, what a surprise. I wasn't expecting to you see here," said Mellie unable to hide her disappointment.

As soon as Mellie saw Fitz in Olivia's office, she knew Olivia's invitation for them to meet had nothing to do with launching her presidential campaign. Fitz's presence at OPA already suggested the two of them planned to tell her something she didn't really want to hear but knew was going to happen eventually. "Since you are here, I'm presuming the two of you have something to tell me," said Mellie in a controlled voice.

Mellie knew she had nothing to gain by getting angry and make threatening overtures, especially with Secret Service agents standing close by. Perhaps if she maintained her cool and played her cards right, she might be come out ahead in the situation, such as getting Fitz to make appearances for her presidential campaign and still having Olivia as her campaign manager. Her hope was Olivia and Fitz would have long engagement and the wedding would take place after Fitz's term ended. If they got married after Fitz was no longer president, Olivia could serve as her campaign manager. Even though some people would still say it might be a conflict with Olivia as the President's fiancée to be her campaign manager, she figured Olivia would have a way to spin the situation to make it acceptable.

Olivia was standing next to Fitz when she said, "We do. We're getting married."

"Fine."

"Fine?" asked Fitz with surprise. He expected Mellie to be at least upset. The fact she wasn't was already suspicious. Then it dawn upon Fitz that Mellie wasn't upset because they hadn't dropped the other shoe as to when the wedding was going to be. "Mellie, you should know Olivia and I aren't waiting to get married."

"I see. When is your wedding?"

Fitz replied "New Year's Eve."

"New Year's Eve?! New Year's Eve?! That's 5 days away!" exclaimed Mellie as she paced around Olivia's office. After she stopped pacing, Mellie said "How could the two of you do this to me?

Mellie looked at Fitz and said in a venomous voice "Oh, you couldn't wait to get your precious Olivia pregnant with your baby, could you? As if having one America's baby wasn't enough for you?" She then turned her attention to Olivia and said "You owe me, Olivia Pope. You stole my husband. I let your murderer father out of prison…"

Olivia then said in a loud voice "Stop it, Mellie. Right now." Mellie immediately stopped her ranting and realized she had gone too far.

"Fitz, I need to have the room. Mellie and I have a few things to discuss," said Olivia in a controlled voice.

Fitz left Olivia and Mellie alone in Olivia's office and went to the conference room. The two of them spoke in loud enough voices that he could hear bits and pieces of their conversation.

"…I didn't steal Fitz from you…"

"…You knew he was married and slept with him…What does that make you?"

"…Stop it, Mellie. Just grow up. Your marriage was already broken long before I came along. You're angry with Fitz and me because he and I are in love with each other, which is more than what you had with Fitz when the two of you were married…

"…How could you say that?" I stayed married to him after what happened to me…"

"…I'm sorry for what happened to you with Big Jerry but you have to stop blaming Fitz for it…The person who you should blame is long dead…"

"…I couldn't have told him…"

"…Look, I understand you not telling him because you felt shame for what happened but Fitz would have never blamed you. And if you are going to tell me Fitz wouldn't have believed you, then you should have never married Fitz in the first place if you didn't trust him. He knew what kind of man his father was…"

"…There was his political career to think about…"

When Fitz heard Mellie's comment, he was about to interrupt them but stopped when he heard Olivia say "You need to be honest with yourself as to whether Fitz's political career was more important to you or to him. You know Fitz wouldn't have made you into some kind of sacrificial lamb for his political career. Had Fitz known, he would have taken you away to keep you safe and cut off all ties with Big Jerry. He would have figured out some other way to launch his political career without Big Jerry's help and money. Or did you think he couldn't do it without Big Jerry and the Grant family fortune? Or worse, were you afraid Fitz would drop his political ambition and aspiration because Big Jerry wasn't around to push him. If there was no political life for Fitz and no Grant money to fall back on, the two of you would have been regular people. A working couple with successful legal careers raising a family but without the wealth, privilege, and power that would have set you apart from everyone else…"

Mellie's non-response gave the answer Fitz suspected about the life he had with Mellie when they were married. The life he had with Mellie was predicated on him following a particular path in life and having money and had he not followed it and been wealthy, Mellie wouldn't have been a part of it.

Olivia went on to say "In regards to my father, you ultimately made the decision to let him out of prison. You didn't have to, Mellie. You did it so you could use it against me. I asked you to do it to save Fitz and his presidency because he did something he shouldn't have because he loves me and was trying to keep me alive when your traitorous boyfriend had me kidnapped who I might add ultimately betrayed you. I wouldn't had to ask you if the Senate didn't try to impeach Fitz, and the only reason why the Senate was able to proceed ahead with the impeachment hearing was you gave them the vote it needed to start the process. You gave the Senate the vote after Fitz made it clear to the world he wasn't hiding me anymore which goes back to what I said before about you being angry with Fitz and me for being in love with each other. I admit letting my father out of prison was wrong and I regret it. Now my murderer father is walking free and both of us have to take responsibility for it, and Mellie, you need to be very careful because this can come back to haunt you. Especially once you announce your candidacy to run for president."

When Mellie remained silent, Fitz had a suspicion Mellie was realizing the error in her decision in letting Rowan out of prison. Mellie must have said something in a low voice when he heard Olivia saying out loud "For a woman who graduated the top of her class at Harvard Law, I can't believe you actually just said you can have my father locked back up in the prison. Have you forgotten you got him a pardon to let him out?"

"…You're right. But, Olivia, you have to help me come up with a plan to get your father back in prison. He can't be out roaming around…"

"…"Mellie, I can't help you. Getting him locked up the first time was hard enough. Trying to do it for the second time is going to be harder because he's going to be smarter in not getting caught…We are just going to have to deal with the consequences…I don't want to talk about my father any more. Getting back to the subject of the wedding, Fitz and I want Karen and Teddy to be there." Even though he and Olivia knew Karen was old enough to make the decision about attending without Mellie's approval, Teddy was a different matter. However, out of respect to Mellie as their mother, they were asking for her approval for both of them.

Olivia then added "We would also appreciate you not telling anyone about the wedding beforehand."

Fitz realized Mellie must have been pre-occupied with the problem of Rowan and the possible trouble Rowan could cause for her with her presidential candidacy when he heard her reply "Fine. Whatever." He had expected Mellie to at least put up a fight about Karen and Teddy being in attendance. He then saw Mellie coming out of Olivia's office and walking out of OPA without saying a good bye to him.

As Mellie was walking out, Fitz went back to Olivia's office and saw Olivia with a grin on her face. "I guess Mellie is too worried about my father either derailing her presidential aspirations or blackmailing her not to care anymore about us getting married and having the kids at our wedding."

Olivia picked up her cell phone to make a call and when the call went to voice mail, she proceeded to say "Dad, it's Olivia. I need to meet with you…"

As Olivia was leaving her voice message, Fitz was thinking One down, one more to go, as he and Olivia prepared to deal with the final hurdle before their New Year's Eve wedding.