Even with all of Natalia's help there was still a mountain of work waiting for her when she made it back to her office. Olivia had loved and even needed that time taking care of Max and Ava to begin healing old wounds but she was also glad to be getting back to work. Though now the hotel wasn't just a business venture it was her legacy to her children and grandchildren and everything took on a bit more urgency because of as well. Every customer and every project became further proof that family would never want again. She couldn't erase the twenty four years Ava had lived without her or diminish the hurt and pain she'd caused the girls since coming to Springfield but she could make their future as supportive and loving as possible. The only consolation she could get from their entire experience was the fact she'd made the right decision as a teenager even if it was made in anger. Crystal Peralta was the mother Olivia would never have been able to be. If she'd kept the girl would not have only grown to hate her but might even hate her still.

"Finally you brought those papers by I was wondering what was keeping you" Olivia said without looking up from another set of contracts. After signing her name she looked up in shock. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Nice to see you too Olivia. I'm doing great by the way, thank you for asking"

"I'm not in the mood for games. So what do you want?" Olivia asked immediately walking over to close the door before turning back towards the man. "What are you after?"

"Jesus. You know there was a time that we loved each other. There was even a time that you considered me your best friend so what the hell is going on with you?"

"What's going on is you throwing my daughter out of her home and onto the streets a few hours after giving birth!"

"She gave birth to another man's child Olivia! What the hell did you expect me to do?"

"You knew he wasn't yours. You knew the day you married her so don't act like the aggrieved husband and father. You were just pissed he came out with black skin!"

"Don't you dare make this about that"

"That's sure the hell how it looks from where I stand"

"I can't win with you. First you don't want me anywhere near Max and completely out of his life as fast as possible and now you accuse me of abandoning him because of his skin. Do you even think about what you say from one minute to the next or does that even matter to you as long as you get what you want?"

"The only thing I want is to know what you're after. If you are to psychoanalyze me you can leave now"

Taking his face in his hands and rubbing his face Bill tried his best to salvage something from his relationship with his wife and sat down wearily. "I'm here to see how he's doing. I was hoping that you would let me see him" Bill said looking much older than he had a few seconds before.

"See who? You can't possibly be here to see Max?"

"Why the hell not? For over a year he was my son. He was going to be my first born and in a split second he was taken away. Everything I wanted and dreamed about was stolen away by that son of a bitch Remy. I lost my wife and my son"

"YOU didn't want your wife! You couldn't get back to chasing after Lizzie fast enough so don't you dare blame this on Remy or Ava. You spent your entire marriage figuring out ways to get her in your bed and my daughter out so don't you think I'm going to feel the slightest bit of sympathy for you"

"Obviously"

"Get the hell out Bill" Olivia said pulling the door back open.

"Olivia"

"Get out"

"Olivia he was my son. I miss him and all I want from you is to see him and a fucking picture of his smile so if that makes me a fucking bastard then fine. Fine. So can I see your grandson now please?"

"Do you think this is some joke?" Olivia asked stalking in front of her ex-husband in growing rage. "Are you trying to prove some point here? Because you forget I know you. I know that you don't look back once you've moved on"

"Olivia would you please"

"Do you even remember adopting Emma and promising to always be there for her and always love her and then as soon as you were finished with me you didn't give her a second thought. So don't play this game with me Bill Lewis I know you and I know exactly what you're all about. So get the fuck out of my office and I don't ever want to see you sniffing around my daughter or grandson if you ever have hopes of really having a first born anytime soon" Olivia's staff spent the rest of the day trying their best to avoid her wrath but it wasn't until her door was thrown open again that her day truly took a turn for the worst.

"Why am I going around the hotel trying to convince your loyal staff not to mutiny" Natalia asked with her hands on her hips as she stared at Olivia in barely contained frustration until she was suddenly swept off her feet and thrown onto the sofa into a tight hug. "Olivia I'm supposed to be in here scolding you for your bad behavior not cuddling with you on company time" Natalia asked laughing as she ran her fingers through the other woman's hair.

"I don't wanna" Olivia stated simply with her head tucked into Natalia's neck and breathed in her calming scent.

"You want to be more specific than that honey?"

"No" Olivia mumbled without lifting her head.

"You cannot keep threatening and yelling at the staff just because you're having a bad day"

Raising up her head Olivia growled "I'm paying them"

"You're paying them to do a job not to be abused" Natalia said talking over the other woman before she burst into giggles after Olivia blew her a very wet raspberry before tucking her head in her neck again. "So do you want to talk about it baby?"

"Not right now" Olivia said trying her best to concentrate her world the limits of the her girlfriend's arms. "What do you want me to bring over for dinner?" Olivia asked trying her best to forget the rest of the world. The two had been going slower than Olivia had even dreamed possible. She was new to the female dating game but she was pretty sure after a month and a half she should be a little farther than second base but the funny thing was having sex with Natalia was the last thing on her mind. Well not really. She thought about it almost everyday almost ever second but more than that exquisite pleasure Olivia wanted a life with the other woman and it if took six month to get to second and twelve to get to third she would happy just as long as Natalia was hers at the end of the journey. For now the two spent as much time as they could moving slowly forward and it was more than perfect in Olivia's eyes.

"I'm sorry baby I can't tonight"

"What's wrong?" Olivia asked pulling back to inspect her girlfriend. Ever since they'd expressed their love for each other the two had as many meals as possible together especially dinner. Because dinner lead to movies and snuggles and extended hugging and kissing so missing that opportunity was a huge bummer as far as Olivia was concerned.

"I decided that I'm going to tell Rafe about us. I'm going to drive to see him in a few minutes" Olivia could feel the blood draining from her face at the thought of everything ending once Rafe found out. It was too good to be true. She wasn't meant to be happy. It just wasn't in her genetic make up and these few weeks with Natalia were some sort of cosmic fluke. "Would you stop that. I'm not going to change my mind about us no matter what he says Olivia"

"You don't know that. You don't know how you will react when he makes you choose" Olivia said glumly as she pulled away from the comfort she'd almost thought was meant to be. Stupid me.

"There is no choice. I'm not choosing one way or the other" she heard Natalia say as she got up to stand by the bay window across the office and tried not to lean into the heat when she felt Natalia rub gentle circles across her back. "Olivia I love you and I love your family. There is no way that I could go back to it just being me and Rafe after I've had you and your girls"

"And Max" Olivia mumbled in despair trying to stop the tears from falling.

Natalia laughed and kissed Olivia's head and whispered "And Max" as she took the other woman in her arms and poured all the love she could into a single kiss. "Honey I've decided to tell Rafe about us because I don't want to wait any longer" and had to lean back quickly when Olivia's raising head almost struck her face. "I love you and I don't want to wait any longer for us to be together but I can't start something so important this without my son knowing the truth"

"But what happens if he doesn't accept us? What if he" Olivia whispered in fear before she was cut off.

"Nothing Rafe can say will change my mind or my heart. If he doesn't understand than I will keep working on him until he does but that isn't going to stop me from being with you."

"Then why can't Emma and I come over tonight?" Olivia asked in a small scared voice completely different from the take no prisoner CEO everyone else saw and feared.

"To tell you the truth I am expecting him to resist. He's been my world his entire life so I don't think he's going to be happy about me dating anyone"

"Especially me"

"Ah my love" Natalia sighed and kissed her girlfriend's temple "your right especially you so I don't expect to be in the best mood tonight when I get home. I don't want to put you and Em through that"

"We don't care"

"Well I do" Natalia tried again to meet the other woman's eyes before walking them back to the sofa and holding the other woman close again. "I want our next night together to be the start of our life together. I want to fully commit myself to you and I don't want that night to be about anything but the two of us and it won't be tonight. Can you understand?"

"So your saying that I'm about to get luck?" Olivia teased trying to bring a smile on Natalia's face before she left to face her son. The two spent several minutes more just mentally preparing themselves for whatever obstacles Rafe placed their way but confident that they would still have each other at the end of the ordeal. "Will you call me and let me know you're home even if you don't want to talk?" Olivia asked as she walked the other woman to the office door.

"Of course I'm going to call and I'm going to tell you what Rafe says. I just don't know if I will be in much mood to stay on the phone for long after he lays into me" Emma led her sister and Max into the office a few hours later to pull Olivia from her computer and the phone for dinner but she was too far behind to take more than three hour break before getting back to work. One of the man rules she'd made to try and create balance in her increasingly her hectic life was to leave work at the desk before she climbed out of her elevator to her pent house suite. It wasn't easy and there were plenty of times that she had to run back down stairs to finish one file or sign another contract but Olivia wanted her family to know that her time with them was important. The three of them were more important than whatever t didn't get crossed a few hours before. So when she looked across the room trying to figure out if she could finally go back upstairs to her babies the last thing she'd expected or wanted was Reva Shane bursting through her door. "What the hell are you doing here? You know what I don't even care why you're here. Just leave. I'm not in the mood so if you want to see Ava and the baby just go upstairs and get the hell out of my office"

"Listen you might be the big cheese around here but I don't take orders from you or anyone else"

"Well maybe you should. What the hell are you even doing here Reva?"

"Maybe if you would calm down you would find out hell. I swear I don't know what the Natalia sees in you."

"Excuse me?" Olivia asked with concern. How the hell did Reva know about her and Natalia. No one knew about them. They'd gone out of their way to keep things are "normal" as possible until Natalia was able to tell Rafe and if Reva knew then it might as well be the front page.

"How the hell someone as level headed as her works with a jackass like you is beyond me. I would have"

"What do you want!" Olivia tried again as she silently counted to ten but had to wait until the blonde closed the door, poured a glass of wine and then sat down at her desk. "Now that everything is to your liking could you tell me what in God's name has brought you here. Shouldn't you be doing something obscene with my latest ex husband?"

"Why did you do that? Why did you marry him?"

"Listen I don't know what the hells going on with you and Jeffery but if you think I'm after him then"

"He told me"

"Told you what? I don't have time for whatever game your playing. I already did this song and dance with you and Josh and I refuse to go through it with you and Jeffrey too if you can" Olivia said as she walked towards the door to open it wide but heard Reva say "He told me about you and Ava. He told me what he did to you. How he got you pregnant" and then turned around in shock. "What?"

"He told me. Almost a week ago he told me"

"So you're here because you don't believe me? You think I would make up something like that just to piss you off? You know what Fuck you"

"I believe you Olivia. He told me and I couldn't even bare the sight of him. He told me as we were laying in bed and I just got up and left and haven't spoken to him since" Reva said looking at her in wonder with the calmest voice she'd ever heard from the other woman.

"Why are you here?" Olivia asked trying to get her bearings. She didn't know why he would tell Reva something like that when it was all she could do to push it out of her head each time he was near. What the hell would he tell Reva of all people. "What do you want?" Olivia asked beginning to feel ill.

"I want to know how you could forgive him. I want to know how you could share your child with a man who would do something like that to another person. How could you marry him and ask him to help raise Emma with Ava after what he did?" Reva asked in a low tone.

"You're here to judge me? Are you saying I must have wanted it or"

"No I'm saying I know you. You and I are more alike than either of us are comfortable with so I know I'd sooner be on death row biding my time than have a man who did that to me anywhere near my children. So I'm asking why?" Once she heard those words Olivia could actually hear the other woman. All this time she'd still been expecting to be judged and viewed as the drunken slut who'd asked for exactly what she got. No matter that she'd come to realize it wasn't her fault in her heart she still expected condemnation especially from Reva.

"Ava"

"What about her"

"She's the reason. She hated me and wanted nothing to do with me. She loved him even after finding out what he did to me"

"But why would she"

"No! Ava had her reasons. She had plenty reason to choose him over me" Olivia barked turning away to clear her throat and her tears. "I wanted Ava and I knew I had to get past what he did. So I did for her. But eventually I forgave him. He isn't the same person he was before Reva. We've both changed because of her and Max"

"I don't know if I can be with someone who did that. I don't know if I have it in me to do that"

"Is that what you're here for? For me to tell you its okay to be with Jeffery?" Olivia asked with a raised brow.

"Hell no. I'm the first one to tell you when you're being a stupid bitch and I'll be the first one to tell you when you're" Reva pursed her lips in thought and laughed "not. So I just wanted to say that"

"Cool" Olivia said feeling emotionally drained as she watched the other woman walk out the door.