"Good morning." Olivia came in with a slightly peppier step to her gate as she acknowledged her team. "And also, goodbye."
"What?" Quinn asked.
"Everybody is getting the rest of the week off." Olivia smiled, setting her purse on the conference room.
"What happened?" Marcus asked, concerned.
"Nothing." Olivia said calmly. "I know that I don't thank you guys enough, but I really appreciate how everybody came through on this French President case. The press is finally under control and all of the pieces came together—thanks to you guys. So this is my treat."
"But we have work to do, our phone has been steadily ringing with new clients. I hate to profit off of your tragedy, but your name being thrust into the spotlight brought hundreds of potential paychecks." Quinn protested.
"Nothing is urgent." Olivia said. "So, you can either sit here in an empty room, wasting our electric bill, or you can take a vacation. We will start back on Monday."
Quinn opened her mouth to say something, but Abbey kicked her under the table.
"So get out of my sight." Olivia waved them off as she walked into her office. "Except for Marcus. My office." She disappeared into her office.
"If I was in trouble, her tone would be different, right?" Marcus asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You never know." Huck said as he got up to leave.
"This is weird." Quinn said after Marcus entered Olivia's office.
"It shouldn't be." Abbey replied. "Do you know the last time she gave us a break?"
Quinn opened her mouth to say something, but Abbey cut her off.
"Christmas doesn't count."
Quinn fell silent.
"Exactly. So don't question it." Abbey said with a smirk as she gathered her purse. "Because I sure as hell am not."
/
"Sit down." Olivia told Marcus as she opened her laptop, typing into it.
"Did I do something?" Marcus asked.
"Yes." Olivia replied. "But it was a good thing."
He raised his eyebrows in confusion, waiting for her to elaborate.
"Abbey told me how essential you were to the premiere dame. I was not completely confident in you going in—not because you are not talented, but because you are still a somewhat new addition to our team. You proved me wrong."
"Thank you."
"And in realizing this, I realized that you are finally one of us. You have earned your gladiator badge."
"A year and a few months in change is a hell of a training period." Marcus joked.
"Which is why I was reminded of why we signed you on in the first place."
"Oh?"
"When I hired you, I will admit that I didn't think of you as a permanent member of our team. I was in charge of B613, and I wanted to shape a cooperative politician who would help it remain in power. Obviously, those plans for the organization did not hold out. But I hired you under a promise. You agreed to work for me if I got you into office. And I am afraid that I have fallen short."
"Are you firing me?" He asked.
"Marcus, please. I'm complimenting you and admitting my own flaw, and you think I'm firing you?"
"Sorry. Continue."
"I know that you are uncomfortable with some of the things we do here. Even when you agree, I can tell you are still uncomfortable. So, I wanted to show you this."
She turned around her computer screen to show a billboard-sized political advertisement. It had a black, fuzzy, profile shaped blank on it, but the words were there.
Marcus Walker
Maryland Senator
2020
It was a mock ad for his senatorial campaign.
"So, if you want, we can kick start your campaign for Maryland's next senator. The incumbent is retiring this cycle, so the seat would be ripe for your picking. And of course the White House, which you have our pledged support." She leaned against her desk and crossed her arms. "That is, if you want it."
Marcus opened his mouth like he was going to respond, but stopped himself, thinking further. "Do I have to answer right now?"
"Of course not." Olivia closed her laptop. "Go home and think about it. I mean, we obviously can't start until Monday. We can't go public for another year and a half. So there is not a rush. But it is rightfully yours."
"You aren't trying to fire me, you are just trying to get rid of me." He joked as he stood and buttoned his suit jacket. "I will let you know by Monday."
"Have a nice vacation."
/
"Hi." Olivia greeted Fitz with a kiss as he let her into his house. He kissed Alex's cheek. "How was work?"
"Exhausting." He admitted. "9 months ago must have been an especially romantic night because every woman in the DMV was due today. But I got a nap afterwards, so I'm good."
"So you'll be awake tonight." Olivia winked, setting Alex down. She greeted him more properly, kissing him deeply.
"You are in a good mood."
"I'm in a good mood." She affirmed. "Alex is over her bug, I gave the team the rest of the week off…"
"Wait… you actually gave the poor souls of OPA a vacation?"
"I did." She laughed. "You are almost as surprised as they were."
"So…" He smirked. "That means that you have the rest of the week off?"
"It does." She grinned. "But Alex is holding you to the promise of a movie night, so tonight you are on boyfriend duty."
"Is she holding me to it, or are you?"
"Both." Olivia smiled. "But don't worry. I brought the movie. And popcorn. So all that you have to do is provide a couch and your TV which is enviously bigger than mine."
"I think she only likes me for my TV." Fitz joked as Alex was already climbing onto his couch.
"I know it is why I keep you around." Olivia shot back as she handed him the bags of popcorn from her purse. "I'll get the movie started."
By the time a large bowl was filled with Olivia's favorite brand of popcorn, Moana was starting on the TV. Fitz grabbed some blankets and a bottle of wine as well. Alex curled up in Olivia's lap, and Olivia curled up against Fitz's side. Fitz wished that he could end every night like this, with everybody warm and content to watch Disney's latest princess.
Alex barely made it halfway through her out of key attempts to sing along to Moana's journey before she was fast asleep, with a belly full of popcorn. Olivia didn't mind having her fall asleep against her, until she grew restless for a change in position. She gently slid down to lay her head in Fitz's lap, letting Alex snuggle against her chest.
"I'm sure that Disney princess movies are not your taste, but I'm kind of invested into this one, so we have to finish." Olivia whispered, reaching up to feed a piece of popcorn into his mouth.
"Are you kidding me? I hated it when Karen grew out of children movies. I'm only dating you so that I can watch the new ones with Alex."
"Mhmm." Olivia chuckled. They quietly finished the movie, before leaving Alex in the dark living room to sleep.
"What are you going to do on your days off?" Fitz asked as they moved into the kitchen. "Escape to Cabo? Hike the Himalayans? Karen informed me that Coachella is this weekend. I bet you look real pretty in a flower crown. " Fitz joked, dodging a piece of popcorn she threw at his face.
"I was hoping to spend them with you." Olivia took a seat at a barstool at the island. "You don't work until Sunday, so I was hoping that you could fit me into your schedule."
"I might be able to squeeze you in." He went to pour her the last glass of wine, but she protested.
"I have to drive home, I shouldn't."
"You could spend the night."
"Alex can't sleep on your couch."
"She won't roll off. You said yourself about how you think she is ready for a big girl bed."
"I'm not worried about her rolling off." Olivia laughed. "I'm worried about the inevitable wet spot on your nice couch cushion in the morning."
Fitz wrinkled his nose. "I forgot about that."
"Plus she has yet to sleep the whole night through away from her bed."
"Fine. You win this one." He poured the last glass for himself. "Why don't we go to the beach?"
"The beach?"
"Yeah. Has Alex seen the ocean yet?"
"Of course she has." Olivia said.
"At the beach though?" Fitz challenged. "Not through an airplane window."
"She has yet to be to the beach." Olivia admitted.
"That settles it. We are going to the beach tomorrow." He circled the kitchen island to where she was sitting.
"Which beach?"
"Leave that up to me." He kissed her tenderly. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 10."
"Okay." Olivia grinned. The thought of spending a relaxing day on the beach with him was something of a dream to her. To try to piece together some sense of normalcy after her crazy past couple of weeks seemed like the perfect way to spend her break.
"I can't wait to see you in your swim suit." Fitz murmured as his hands shamelessly felt up her body.
"You've already seen me in a swimsuit." She laughed as he picked her up and set her on the counter.
"Something tells me that the white bikini that remains untouched in your bottom left drawer will look way better on you than the one piece you wear to swim laps in."
"I guess you will have to use your imagination until then." Olivia teased as she sucked the taste of wine off of his tongue.
"Or you could give me a sneak peek." He slipped his hands under her shirt and quickly found the clasp for her bra.
"It's late." She pulled her face back, but made no move to pull his hands away. "And I should be waking Alex before she does the unmentionable on your couch."
"You know, there is this incredible invention called cleaning products. It erases messes like magic."
Olivia laughed out loud, putting her hands on his chest and pushing him away. "How about this. I drag Alex's sleepy ass into the car before you make me change my mind. You go take a freezing shower and take a nice long rest tonight, because no matter how much you protest, I can tell that you are exhausted from your shift today. Then you wake up refreshed tomorrow to pick us up."
"Deal." Fitz groaned, pretending like that wasn't a promising prospect for him. "But you better leave right now." He kissed her neck and whispered in her ear, "Before you… change your mind."
"Good night, Fitz." Olivia laughed, sliding from the counter top. Alex obviously didn't want to be woken up, crumbling into a tearful tantrum.
"See?" He held his hands out in defeat. "Even she wants to spend the night."
"Goodnight." Olivia rolled her eyes as she juggled an angry Alex in her arms. "I will see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Alex." Fitz kissed her forehead, and then kissed Olivia's lips briefly. "I can't wait."
/
"Is it everything your horny mind imagined?" Olivia asked, once she noticed his shameless gaze. She had just shed her cover up to reveal her white bikini—which had admittedly been abandoned for the past couple of years.
"And more." Fitz quipped back as he set up the umbrella. And arranged their things on the blanket.
"Alex, come back here." Olivia commanded, as Alex ran into her first contact with sand. She fell down, curiously grabbing handfuls of it. "Alexandria." Olivia called, giving up and walking over to scoop her up. She set her on the blanket, against Alex's protests, and began to rub child sensitive sunscreen into her.
"Man, that brings back memories of my childhood." Fitz chuckled.
"You are next." Olivia shot him a glare. "You will not get a sunburn on my watch."
"Only if I can return the favor." Fitz winked.
Olivia chucked a bottle of adult sunscreen at him, which he narrowly dodged. "I'm not kidding." She warned.
"Neither am I." He picked up the bottle and began to rub some of the lotion between his hands before applying it to his chest and arms.
Olivia finished Alex and poured some of his lotion onto her hands for herself. "Don't forget your ears."
"My ears have never gotten sunburnt."
"When I was fourteen, my foster sister got so burnt on her ears that it blistered. I am well aware of how white people work."
"Funny." Fitz smirked, dutifully rubbing his ears.
Once they were fully protected from the sun's UV rays, they played with Alex in the sand, filling up pails of water to make wet sand formations.
"Do you miss California at all?" Olivia asked.
"A little." Fitz admitted.
"Did you go to the beach every day?"
"Is that honestly the stereotype that the rest of the country thinks?"
"You grew up in Santa Barbara."
"We went often, not every day. But it was normal. We didn't know what we were taking for granted."
"How come you never go back?"
"Because my life is here." He said simply. "Work and family makes it hard."
"I would like to go there with you." Olivia said. "I want to see your childhood home and where you got into trouble with your delinquent high school friends."
"I would like that." Fitz laughed.
The sun was beating down, and Olivia noticed Alex was starting to sweat. "Do you want to go swimming?" She asked, knowing that Alex couldn't swim yet. But Alex had shown an affinity towards water, making her swimmer mother proud. She was certain that Alex would take after her mother and be the champion of the backstroke one day.
She put little floaties on Alex's arms, before carrying her to the water. The ocean water was warmer than Olivia expected, becoming a cool relief from the sun. With Alex on her hip, they waded out to the calm ocean. Alex squealed as the waves crashed against Olivia's legs, straining out of Olivia's arms to join the water.
"Slow down there, Michael Phelps." Fitz laughed. Once they reached waist deep, past the break of the waves, Olivia lowered Alex into the water, so that she was halfway underwater.
"How long do you think it will be until even she can beat you at a 200 free?" Olivia quipped.
"We get it, we get it. You beat me the last time." Fitz rolled his eyes. He was athletic alright, but running or the weight room was always his strong suit. He felt out of place in the pool. That didn't stop him from spending a few early mornings getting laps in just to watch Olivia glide seamlessly through the water.
"And the time before that." Olivia winked. Seeing Alex gleefully kick and splash in the water, struggling for her independence, made her so happy.
After a while of play time in the water, Alex got adventurous in Olivia's loose grasp and decided to lower her mouth to the water, taking in a deep gulp of salty water. Naturally, she spit it out and burst into a fit of panicked tears.
"It is okay, Alex." Olivia held her close, patting her back to comfort her. "Ocean time is over for now."
They returned to the beach to calm her down. Olivia gave her some food in the shade of their umbrella to lift her spirits. Once her emotional levels were back to normal, Fitz entertained Alex by burying her in sand from the waist down, making a mermaid formation.
"Time to reapply." Olivia dipped Alex in the ocean to rinse the sand from her. She dried her off and reapplied sunscreen to her. Alex became tired and irritated of the sand, so she curled up on their blanket, refusing to cooperate with Olivia. "I guess its nap time instead." Olivia let her throw a silent tantrum into exhaustion, but made sure to pull her cover up over Alex, so the sun wouldn't burn her. Fitz laughed at Alex's complete surrender to the beach.
"Time for you to reapply too." Olivia tossed him the bottle and shot him a look.
Fitz tossed the bottle back. "Your move, Mom."
Olivia sighed, pouring some into her hands. "You are worse than Alex." She began to rub the lotion softly into his shins. By the time she reached above his swim trunks, she couldn't help but enjoy herself. She took her time rubbing the white sticky lotion into his abs. His smugly relaxed face annoyed her as she massaged into his chest and arms. She took an excessive amount and swiped it across his nose. "That should do it." She giggled at the white streak down his face.
"My turn, now." He spread the excessive amount across his face before picking up the bottle for Olivia and squeezing some into his hand. Oliva willingly laid out, letting his hands meticulously massage into her calves. He came dangerously close up her thigh before skipping to her shoulders.
"And you call me the tease." Olivia tried to joke, but her voice came out as a whisper. She was in some kind of fantasy. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so cared for and loved. Which was ridiculous, because every second she spent with Fitz made her feel more secure and more in love. There was just something about him carefully, but firmly (and a little seductively) massaging the oil into her that made her even more in awe.
He dutifully rubbed her shoulders and stomach, methodically rubbing the lines where her swimsuit met her half-exposed breasts. When he reached her waist, he stopped.
"You missed a spot." Olivia murmured, halfway still in her bliss.
"What spot, exactly?" Fitz asked in feigned innocence. His hand trailed seductively along her inner thighs.
"I don't want to get burnt there. I want my tan to be even." Olivia played along. Before she could gasp, he had a handful of lotion and was massaging her inner thigh. She tried to control her reactions, but it was clear what effect he had on her.
Olivia submitted herself to the pleasure of his capable hands grabbing and kneading, dangerously close to a certain spot.
"You know damn well that we can't do anything out here in this public beach with my daughter napping 5 feet from us." Olivia said, attempting to clear her mind.
"I know." Fitz smirked, not backing down from his efforts. "I'm just trying to get you as hot as possible, because you can't do anything."
Olivia groaned, playfully swatting him away from her. She sat up, applying the rest of the sunscreen to her face.
"Here, let me get your back." Fitz moved to sit behind her, dutifully rubbing the lotion into her back.
Olivia saw a motion out of the corner of her eye from someone on the beach. The beach wasn't crowded, but there were a few families and teenagers hanging around. But this person was a grown man. What caught her eye was that he wasn't wearing beach clothes. She watched him pull out a professional camera and nap a picture of them.
"What are you looking at—" Fitz followed her gaze to the man. "Woah, that is not okay." He began to get up.
"Fitz, sit down."
He ignored her, trying to stand, but she grabbed his wrist, pulling him back down. "You have paparazzi following you now? He can't just take pictures of you in your swimsuit like that. He can't take pictures of Alex like that."
"There is nothing we can do about it." Olivia said sternly. She didn't let go of her white knuckle grip on his wrist, until he finally settled down into a sitting position again. "Alex is covered. I'm fine. They are probably going to circulate on some wannabe TMZ site with no more than a couple thousand views."
"How many pictures did you see him take?" Fitz was still riled up, his protective side getting the best of him.
"I only saw him take one." Olivia admitted.
"Has this been going on since the scandal broke?" Fitz asked, squinting to see if the paparazzi had returned. He hadn't.
"Yes. But I have pretty much stayed in the office, so it hasn't been an issue."
"Is it an issue now?"
"No." Olivia tried not to roll her eyes. He was making such a big deal out of nothing, but she had to remind herself how weird it probably was for him. Plus, he was bone-headedly protective of her and Alex. "If you want to go, we can go. I doubt he will come back, though."
Fitz sighed, realizing that he was overreacting a little. It bothered him way more that someone would be photographing Olivia and Alex without their consent than his own picture being taken. "We can stay."
"Thank you." Olivia kissed him softly, letting her hand stay against his cheek. "Now how about we wake Alex up, spend a few more hours playing on the beach. Then, once she is really worn out, we take her home, put her to bed, and have a nice glass of wine?"
"Deal." Fitz grinned, reading between the lines about what a glass of wine meant.
/
After they woke up Alex, they spent an hour walking with her along the beach, picking up sea shells. Olivia kept a zip-lock bag of Alex's favorite shells, knowing that she would want to see them in the morning, and she would want to remember their day for long after her memory failed.
"If I knew that taking Alex to the beach would knock her out so securely, I would've taken her a long time ago." Olivia half joked. They had just returned from the beach, and Olivia had put a half-passed out Alex into a bath and then into her warm bed.
"The real reason why parents take their kids on exhausting trips before their memories have developed enough to remember." Fitz retorted. Even though he joked, Olivia knew the real truth behind his words. Their beach trip was more for themselves than Alex. Alex wouldn't remember her first encounter with the Atlantic Ocean, but Fitz and Olivia would never forget how she clung to Olivia's waist at first contact.
"Today was a lot of fun." Olivia smiled as she curled up into his side on the couch. Olivia pulled through on her promise, pouring two glasses of wine. They were both dressed to go to sleep, but they also knew that sleep would come at a much later time.
"It was." Fitz kissed her softly, roaming her curves innocently with his hands. "I enjoyed spending the day with you and Alex."
"Mmhmm." Olivia hummed as she reached for her laptop from the coffee table.
"No work, remember?" Fitz joked, slightly annoyed that she would pull her laptop out when he had other plans for the night.
"Don't you want to look at our future potential homes?" Olivia asked innocently.
The biggest grin spread across his face as he made room for her to sit between his legs as they looked through future homes together.
"First thing." She said, pulling up several realtor sights between a sip of wine. "Is the budget."
"I talked to my realtor. She said my house could go for $800,000 easily on today's market. We can start by looking for something in that range."
"We are splitting this 50:50." Olivia said with finality. "Whatever you want to spend, I can match that."
"I love it when you throw in my face that you make more than me." He joked, tickling her neck with his growing scruff.
"Stop." Olivia squirmed. "Let's focus here."
"Okay. Budget. Focused." Fitz stopped his assault on her for the time being. "I can throw in $800,000."
"I doubt we need to go up into the multi-million dollar range, but we can see. It doesn't hurt to have options, but I don't want Alex growing up in something too fancy." She adjusted some of the filters on the websites. "Next category: type. I would love to live in a house, but location is an issue. I need to be able to drive to work in under fifteen minutes, factoring in rush hour traffic. That pretty much limits our search to DC or the Northern edge of Virginia."
"I'm too old to move back into an apartment." Fitz said. "Don't you think Alex would like to have a yard to play in?"
"I grew up in an apartment." Olivia shifted in his arms to look at him. "I turned out okay. Plus DC has a million parks."
"But it isn't the same." Fitz pressed.
"It isn't like living in an apartment of condo will forever stunt her growth in any way." Olivia raised her eyebrow.
"I just don't want to feel… cramped." Fitz sighed.
"Then we'll table it until later." Olivia closed her laptop and set it back on the coffee table.
"What? Open your laptop back up." Fitz protested.
"I said earlier that we can look at homes when it feels right." Olivia kissed him softly. "There is no rush, remember?"
Fitz wanted to protest, but he knew not to push her. Living together with her was a dream he had been planning on for a long time. He wanted her to be as in love with the thought as him, so he put his pride to the side and let her kiss him again. She turned in his arms and deepened the kiss.
"But we will keep looking." He halfway asked.
"We will keep looking." Olivia said, between sliding her tongue along his. "It just has to be perfect."
"It will be perfect." He agreed.
/
"Oh, no." Fitz groaned. "What are we doing here?"
"I just have to pick up some files." Olivia said as she pulled into the parking garage below her office. After dropping Alex off at her day care the next morning, they went for a leisurely run together. Olivia insisted that she ran a few errands, and Fitz agreed to tag along.
"You don't need any files." Fitz argued. "You don't have work. This is a no work week."
"Relax. I have spent the entire day doing non-work things, which is probably a record for me. You should be proud." Olivia rolled her eyes as she parked her car. "Do you want to come in or stay in the car?"
"I better come in, to make sure you are quick." He said, halfway joking.
It was weird for him to be in her office so quiet. The space was either bustling with her team members, frantically pinning photos and evidence on the walls or talking over the phone. Even when he visited her there late at night and the office was empty, it still seemed so much fuller. Olivia checked each of the offices to see if anybody was there. He followed her to her office, where she began to file through a stack of papers on her desk.
"I don't think I've ever seen this place so empty." He sat in her chair and swiveled it around.
"It is quiet." Olivia said with a smirk. "We are alone."
Fitz watched her circle her own desk to him. She sat on his lap, playfully running her fingers through his hair. He was perfectly aware of how her perfect ass was pressing against his crotch. He felt himself get hard at the slightest shift of weight from her. Was she doing this intentionally?
"I actually didn't have to pick up papers here." She toyed with the collar of his shirt.
"You didn't?" He played along, firmly gripping her ass in his large hands. "Then why are we here?"
"You have always wanted to fuck me in my office." She whispered against his mouth. "And now is your chance."
She knew that just the mention of sex with her was enough to turn him on. He tried to connect his mouth to hers, but she avoided his lips. She went to kiss along his jaw line to his neck. Any move he made on her to take his mind off of his erection was calmly thwarted by her. When he felt her weight shift out of his lap, he knew that he was doomed. She slid in between his legs, shedding her jacket and tucked her hair behind her ears. She unbuttoned his jeans and pulled his dick out of his boxers.
"Livvie…" Fitz groaned as she began to stroke him. She softly kissed his member, swirling her tongue around his tip. The softness of her tongue and the graze of her teeth made his head fall back and his grip tighten in her hair. "Fuck." He moaned as she took him in as far as she could handle. She knew how to work him like putty, bobbing up and down, sucking with the right amount of pressure. He gathered her hair in his hands, holding it back and controlling her pace.
When she brought him dangerously close to his finish, Fitz tried to resist. He hated finishing in her, but she never seemed to mind. She ignored him, bringing him to a pleasurable finish. He gripped the arm rest of her chair as he came into her mouth. She swallowed every drop, sucking him until he was limp again. She retrieved a water bottle from her mini-fridge, rinsing her mouth out. She glanced over at him with his head leaned back against her chair, watching her through hooded eyes.
"I love you." He whispered, throaty with desire.
"I love you too." Olivia smiled, crossing back to him to offer him the rest of the water. He grabbed her wrist, pulling her onto his lap. He began to kiss along her neck and roam his hands up her thighs.
"I don't think we can do a round two." Olivia laughed, squirming out of his grasp.
"You haven't had a round one yet." Fitz backed her up against her desk.
"Save it for tonight." Olivia pushed him back into her chair. "Tuck yourself in. We are late to pick up Alex."
"Oh, shit, you are right." He said, checking his watch.
/
"Hi, I'm here to pick up Alexandria Pope." Olivia told the teenager at the desk.
"Of course, Ms. Pope." She smiled and retreated into the big room.
Olivia used to have to show her ID in order to pick up Alex, but ever since her name and picture was blasted on every local, national, and international news show, they never asked. It was a small change, but it annoyed her nonetheless.
"Um… She's already been picked up." The teenager returned.
"Excuse me?" Olivia asked. "Who picked her up?"
"Well, it was Allison's shift then. She left thirty minutes ago. If you want, I can call her and ask."
"Please do." Olivia snapped, harsher than she meant. She felt Fitz put his hand on the small of her back to calm her down. She pulled out her phone and dialed Huck. She moved away from Fitz's hand, and spoke in a low tone. "Huck? I need you to do me a favor. Hack into the security cameras at Alex's day care. There is one camera in the north west corner…"
"Liv, slow down, he doesn't need to—" Fitz whispered, but she held her hand up to silence him.
"Okay, keep me on the line." Olivia spoke into the phone.
"Hey, take a deep breath." Fitz told her. He took her free hand in his, gently rubbing it. "There had to be an explanation." Even as he tried to comfort her, the worst snuck into his mind. Why would she call Huck to check the cameras? They had no dangerous clients at the time. Why would someone want to kidnap Alex? He started to get warm, imagining what evil people would do with Alex.
"Excuse me, Ms. Pope." The teenager had her cell phone to her ear. "Allison says that she can't remember her name, but she could give you a description."
"What did they look like?"
"Um… She was tall and skinny—"
"I've got it." Huck said into the phone.
"Hold on." Olivia told the day care receptionist. "Do we know them?"
"It's just Abbey. She picked her up an hour ago."
"Abbey?" Olivia asked, taking a deep breath of relief. "Thank you." She hung up, before turning to the receptionist. "Did she have red hair?"
"Yes!" The receptionist bounced up and down. "So we are good here?"
"It was a misunderstanding." Olivia nodded. "I'm sorry."
She briskly walked out of the lobby, dragging Fitz behind her to her car.
"Woah, slow down." Fitz pulled back on her death grip.
"Sorry." Olivia slowed down, letting him catch up. She unlocked her car, slipping behind the wheel.
Fitz took his seat in the passenger side and watched her dial Abbey's number.
"Abbey? Hey… You have Alex, right? Aw, shit." Olivia hit her palm against the steering wheel. "I completely forgot about that. Where are you? I can come by to pick her up." She hung up and tossed her phone into her purse. She put her car into drive and pulled out.
"Hold on a second." Fitz said as she jerked the car out of the parking spot. "Pull over for a second."
Olivia pulled into a parking spot. "What?"
"Just… Take a breath."
"What?" Olivia shot him a crazy look.
"Your adrenaline is at a hundred right now. Pause and take a breath." He watched her take a big breath and exhale. "Okay, good. Now drive."
Olivia nodded, taking another breath before driving off.
/
"What's on your mind?" Fitz reached his hand across her tummy, pulling her to lay on her side to face him. "I can hear you thinking."
They retrieved Alex from Abbey immediately. Fitz noticed how Olivia hugged Alex for a couple of seconds longer when she picked her up. Fitz didn't comment on it. It was her first where is my child scare. But after a couple of hours of playing dress up with Alex and dinner, they were lying in bed, fully clothed.
"What if Alex doesn't turn out right." Olivia whispered.
"What?" Fitz tried not to laugh, but a soft chuckle betrayed him.
Olivia sighed deeply, rolling away from him.
"Hey, wait." Fitz protested, trying to turn her back to him, but she wouldn't budge. "I'm sorry. That statement was just very left field."
"Stop." Olivia protested, halfheartedly. She held herself together until she felt his unshaven scruff purposefully nudging her shoulder. "You need to shave that soon." She squirmed until she was facing him.
"It got your attention, so I'll keep it around." He smirked, pulling a stray strand of hair from her face. "Talk to me. Why do you think that Alex will turn out…not right?"
"I have no idea what I'm doing." She mumbled.
"You are an incredible mother." Fitz kissed her nose.
"Why does that sound like a mother telling her son he's handsome, even though no girl will go to prom with him?"
"Do you want me to get a stranger off of the street to tell you?" Fitz chuckled.
"I want some type of guarantee that Alex will be normal… smart… happy."
"Yeah, well, you can't get that. Welcome to parenting."
"What if I lost her today?"
"It was a mistake." Fitz said. "Do you know how many times I forgot Jerry at the supermarket? He's fine. He's at Harvard."
"Was the first thought you had when you realized that he was lost that someone kidnapped him? That someone exacted their personal vengeance on your professional life by taking him?" Olivia asked.
Fitz was silent. He understood why she was acting so on edge after the mishap. "I'm sorry, I—"
"How can Alex grow up normal if she is surrounded by my batshit crazy life?"
"Not normal isn't always bad… Michael Jackson didn't have a normal childhood." Fitz kissed her nose, causing the corner of her mouth to curl the slightest bit. "Monday, you will get straight back to work, handling overpaid NFL players and coke snorting CEOs. Your life will get back to normal. Well, your type of normal. You have nothing to worry about."
"Thank you." Olivia smiled. She took a deep breath, running her fingers through his hair down to his neck. "I was thinking… and I know that we are taking things slow."
"We can change that." Fitz smirked, sliding his leg between hers.
"Slow down there." Olivia chuckled softly. "The other day, Alex asked me why she was lighter than me."
"Lighter?"
"Her skin."
"What did you say?"
"I told her that her father was white, like you… and she asked me if you were her father."
"And?"
"I said no." Olivia whispered. "I told her that her father isn't here anymore, but that I love you a lot. And you love her a lot too." Olivia reached under the covers to take his hand in hers, bringing it to her chest.
"How did she take it?" Fitz asked. "I mean, the news that you like me must be a real shocker to her."
"I don't think she grasped any of it." Olivia laughed, before getting serious, her voice barely a whisper. "But I wanted to say that you were her father."
"You did?" Fitz asked, a lump forming in his throat.
"I did." Olivia sighed softly. "And I know that we are taking this slow…"
"You already said that."
"If you want… I mean if you don't it won't be a big deal, it won't change anything. You will still be here for us…"
"Just ask me what you want." Fitz said.
"Would you want to adopt Alex?"
"Really?" Fitz leaned up on his elbow.
"I don't want to do this alone." Olivia felt a tear slide sideways down her cheek. "I don't want her to grow up without a father."
"I would be honored."
"Really?"
"That is the best question I think has ever been popped to me." Fitz grinned. He kissed her aggressively, showering her face with kisses.
"Fitz, stop, a simple yes would have done it." Olivia laughed as she fended him off, eventually giving in to his eager advances. She kissed him deeply, slowly grazing her tongue along his. "I don't know what order these things are supposed to go." Olivia commented, pulling back. She ran her hand through his hair, tenderly combing out a tangle. "Between marrying you, moving in together, becoming co-parents… I don't know how we are supposed to do this. What order is normal?"
"Whatever feels right." Fitz kissed her forehead.
"All I know is that I want to do all of it with you…" Olivia rolled on top of him, propping her elbows on his chest. "I'm just scared that we will take on more than we can handle."
"As long as we have each other, we will be fine." Fitz mumbled, rubbing his hands along her thighs.
"That's what people say at the beginning of the movie." Olivia said. "But around 45 minutes in, their lives are crumbling to some slow Norah Jones break up song."
"That just makes for better make-up sex." Fitz joked, flipping her over. "I said yes. I would be honored to be Alex's father. You shouldn't have to go through this on your own."
"I love you."
"I love you too." He kissed her softly. "Now, can we please start practicing for the super-hot, super-flexible make-up sex we will no doubt have one day."
"Wait." Olivia put her hand over his mouth, the only way she knew how to stop his insatiable advances. "Pause on the practice. I think I want to marry you."
"What?" Fitz mumbled through her hand.
"I want to be married to my baby's father." Olivia finally removed her hand. "I don't want to be your adoptive baby mama, I want to be your wife."
"I think that technically, I would be your adoptive baby daddy." Fitz grinned. "But you can't just propose to me."
"I can't?" Olivia scoffed. "It's the twenty-first century."
"But what about my pride? My masculinity? I've got to propose like a man to you. You have to be surprised and shit. It's got to be grand."
"If you propose to me with a flash mob or some corny shit like that, then I will say no just to embarrass your ass."
"Noted." Fitz grinned the biggest grin she had ever seen him grin.
/
"Good morning all." Olivia said as she walked into the conference room. "I hope everybody is refreshed, because we have a new client. Freedom Airlines is under fire for kicking off a passenger because her skirt was too short. We need to get ahead of this before their stocks plummet. I need—wait. Where is Abbey?"
"In her office." Marcus chuckled.
"Abbey." Olivia called down the hallway. "Get in here."
Abbey emerged from her office as red as a lobster.
"What the hell happened to you?" Olivia laughed out loud.
"Don't ever give us a vacation again." Abbey muttered. "Now I remember why I haven't been to Florida to visit my parents in years."
Marcus extended one finger into her arm like he was petting a wild animal. He snickered at how she winced at the contact, earning her palm to the back of his head.
"White people." Olivia chuckled as she got back to business. "Quinn, gather any and all articles being published about this. Keep tabs on the reporters working for each source as well. Huck, I want their stocks micro-monitored. Let me know the second anything begins to dip. Abbey, get me a profile on the girl. Try and determine if she is planning on suing or not. Also, get yourself some aloe vera lotion. I don't want you peeling if you have to go on camera."
"Yes, mom." She left to get to work, leaving just Marcus.
"Marcus, I need you to type a report with every legal possibility that could come from her suing the airline."
"Uh, can I actually talk to you privately?" Marcus asked.
"Of course." Olivia motioned for him to follow her to her office. "What's on your mind?" Olivia asked as she leaned against her desk.
"I reached a decision about your offer."
"Oh, right." Olivia honestly forgot about that. "Well?"
"I hated you when I first met you. You were an arrogant, pompous bitch. You were so goddamn smug, I honestly hoped that we would never work together. I had no idea when B6-13 recruited me that you would be behind it. Well, I guess you weren't a part of my recruitment, but you did have the power to turn me away. At that point, I didn't see much else of an option. Even working for you would've been better than the boring 9-5 job I was stuck in. Plus you offered me the one thing I've ever wanted: to be a successful politician."
"We can immediately get started on strategy—"
"Let me finish. After working for you for… well I guess it's been over a year. I realized you are an arrogant, pompous bitch. You ask way too much from us, thrust us into morally compromising positions… You pretty much have turned us into gladiator zombies. It is practically cult-like, if I'm being honest. Which is why I'm always cautious that you will offer is Kool-Aid one day."
"Okay, get to your point." Olivia laughed at his theatrics.
"But you work harder than I've ever seen anybody else work in my entire life. You lead by example. You have found us and turned us into a family. Something I never knew I needed." Marcus took a deep breath. "So, as much as I'd hate to see my childhood dreams of having my hand on the bible in front of the United States Capitol go up in smoke, I don't want to lose this family."
"It's not like the second you run for office we will vanish." Olivia said.
"I don't want to lose the fulfillment I get from solving these cases. This job has made me realize that running for office would just be a half step up from the ACLU. I would be doing meaningful work and changing the world in some cliché way, but I wouldn't be happy. Maybe you ruined me and turned me into an adrenaline junkie. But I want to stay."
Olivia walked towards him and put her hand on his shoulder. "I am very glad to hear that."
"Do I get a raise with this? I mean, you did say how well I did on the French scandal."
Olivia rolled her eyes, "You can get me a legal report on how a lawsuit would affect the airline. Then, I might reconsider your salary."
I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. I figured we needed some fluff after the last coupld of chapters. I haven't started on ch. 13 yet, so it mught be a while before I update. Don't forget to review!