The days without the craziness of the campaign were a lot more boring than Mellie would imagine. It was almost Christmas and she thought that by now, she would be used to it, but she wasn't. She was still senator and she helped Olivia at OPA sometimes, but she expected to be preparing herself to be the next president by this time of the year and she wasn't. Not now and maybe not never. It hurted her more than she could ever admit and Olivia could notice it. She did everything in her power to increase her confidence again, but nothing seemed to work. Only time would cure this wound.

Christmas Eve arrived and Karen and Teddy spent the night at a dinner at the White House with Fitz, but as soon as it was over, they went to Mellie's apartment so that they could spend the rest of the night and the following morning together. They looked like a happy little family. It was the beginning of a long relationship between the four of them.

They took the o opportunity to tell them that they were going to a travel.

"Will I go with you?" Little Teddy asked.

"No, sweetie. It will be just Liv and I. We can travel the four of us another time, ok?"

"I want to go!"

"Teddy, don't be a cry baby. We travel all the time. We will be with dad this time." Karen, that had all her attention at her phone, decided to join the conversation.

"So, are you ok with it, honey?"

"Why wouldn't I be, mom? I am the one always saying that you two deserve more time for yourselves."

"We really do, don't we?"

"Yeah. I can't even imagine what you've been through in so little time. Go have some fun, Teddy and I will be fine. We are used to it."

Olivia couldn't help thinking about how mature Karen was for her age. She had been supportive of her mother no matter what and had been accepted of their relationship as well. Maybe she knew about everything Fitz made her go through and regretted not being there for her mom sooner or maybe losing her brother changed her, Olivia would never know. All she knew was that she was glad Mellie had people there for her.

"Hey, big boy, do you want to play with me?" Liv said, changing the subject. He nodded his head and went running to his room.

The speech everyone was waiting for was made. Olivia did a great job giving people the information they wanted, but at the same time, not worrying anyone more than the necessary. It was a particular difficult thing to do, since Olivia herself was scared to death.

Later that same day, she went back to the hospital and there was a surprise for her. Fitz was seated at a chair next to Mellie's room.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were. The kids are here too. They are talking to her. Or, I don't know, trying to."

"Thanks for coming." She appreciated it, but she was still mad they let her decide everything regarding Mellie's situation by her own.

"It's the least I could do." He reminded that it wasn't the first time she was in this situation. He had been shot while in his first term of office and had been lying on a hospital bed for quite some time. But he wasn't going to say anything. He knew although Liv loved him very much while they were together, Mellie was the love of Liv's life. He had trouble accepting it at first, but after seeing them together and realizing how good they were for each other, he made his peace with it and moved on.

As he was going to ask how Mellie was doing, the kids approached them.

Karen and Teddy both hugged Liv at the same time and they stayed that way for a while, until Liv started crying.

"Hey, Liv, everything is going to be fine."

"How do you know?" She knew it was a silly thing to ask, but she needed all the comfort she could get right now.

"I just know, ok? Mom is a strong woman, she will get through this. She always gets through everything." The four of them seated at the chairs Fitz was sitting just moments before.

"Why did you leave me alone in this?" Olivia asked after some time in silence.

"What?" The three of them said together.

"You let me do the decisions about Mellie alone. I had to put her in a coma and none of you were here with me. I mean, if she d…" She couldn't say those words. She took a moment to breath and continued. "If anything happens to her, it's all on me. I will never forgive myself."

"We're really sorry, Liv." Fitz started talking.

"No, stop. It was my decision to give you the power to do this." Karen said.

"It was? Why?"

Karen looked around and said "Could you leave us alone?"

"Are you sure?" Her brother and her father asked at the same time.

"Yes, I am sure. I need to talk to her."

"Ok, so let's grab something to eat, Ted. Do you want something?" The girls nodded in a negative response and they left.

"I am really sorry, Liv. I didn't do this for you to feel bad, I just thought that this is what partners do and you would like to do this for mom. You two should be married right now and even if things got out of control, I think she would still like for you to make the choice for her. I never thought you would feel like we were putting all the pressure on you. That was never the reason. I am sorry you felt like that."

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry too" She said as the anger she was feeling turned into sadness. "I shouldn't have thought you wanted to put the blame on me if anything bad happens. I mean, you would never do this, right? It's just that with everything happening I can't think straight." She hugged her.

"You have nothing to apologize for. From now on we'll be here and make the decisions together."

"That sounds like a great plan." She smiled. "Why didn't you come earlier? I understand Fitz not coming right away, but you and Teddy are her children."

"I know, we screw up. I am sorry for that too." She laughed. "Looks like I am doing everything wrong these days, aren't I?"

"No, babe. I am not judging you, I just want to know."

"I couldn't see her like that. It hurted to even think about her lying at a hospital bed and coming here it would make it all real." She started to cry. "What if she doesn't make it?"

"Hey, don't think about it. We have to be strong now, ok?" She cleaned the girl's tears. "For ourselves and for her. She needs us to stay strong to take care of her when she wakes up."

"You're right."

"Do you want to join the boys at the coffee area?"

"No, I can't eat anything right now."

"But you need to. What did I say about being strong? Let's go."

Three weeks later they had everything ready to go to Barbados, one of the Caribbean islands. The place was breath-taking. The beaches were pristine, with white sand and crystal clear water as far as the eye could see. They decided to rent a small house in front to the beach instead of going to a hotel, so they could have more privacy. It was nothing fancy, as they were used to, but it was very comfortable and away from society. It felt like home.

When they arrived there it was almost evening. The kitchen was filled with food, as they asked the house owner, Tiana, to go shopping for them before they arrive. The night was spent with the two women eating home-made food, drinking expensive wine and appreciating the beautiful view.

The next morning, Olivia woke up with the sound of a song playing somewhere. Her hands tried to reach for Mellie so they could cuddle, but the woman wasn't there. At her place, there was a note written "come outside." A trail of red rose petals led her to the balcony, where her girlfriend wearing only a silk robe was waiting for her.

"Mel, what's all this?"

"I wanted to make a surprise for you." She was holding a box of jewelry. As Liv got close, Mellie opened it. It was a beautiful pair of diamond earrings.

"Did you like it?" She was holding her breath waiting for her girlfriend's approval.

"Are you kidding? I love it! You didn't have to do this." She step closer to Mellie and gave her a quick kiss.

"I wanted to give something to you."

"But these, wow… these are too much. I am sure it costs a fortune."

"Don't worry about it, honey. Put them on so I can see how it looks on you."

Liv did as she was asked.

"It looks perfect. Thank you, Mel." They kissed and a new song started playing. It was their song - make you feel my love.

"This song…" She was smiling from ear to ear. "You remember!"

"Of course I do." She pulled Liv close to her and put her arms around her waist. "I wanted to kiss you so badly that day."

"Yeah?" she laughed. "Why didn't you?"

"I wasn't ready." Her face turned sad for a moment, but it went back to happy in a second. "But I am now and I promise I will make up to you for all that lost time." She said with a dirty voice.

"So I think you should start right now, you have a lot of work to do, lady." She started laughing, but she was interrupted by Mellie's tongue inside her mouth. A passionate, but gently kiss. One so good that they could swear they were melting down.

Olivia reached her hands to Mellie's hair, her arms across the woman's neck. They only stopped kissing to breath into each other face's, with their noses leaned feeling all the love that used to be hidden someday. But now they are not hiding anymore. And they have all the time in this island, time to live their little own tropical paradise.

Mellie lead the woman to a beach bench that was near the house. She unlaced her robe and dropped it to the sand and there she was, wearing this gorgeous lacy blue lingerie that matched with her eyes. She was being illuminated by the sun and Olivia could swear Mellie had never been as pretty as in that moment.

"Will you help me take the rest off?" Mellie said smiling.

Olivia took off her shoes and walked toward Mellie, feeling the sand in her foot and every step she took getting closer to her girlfriend, one piece of clothes she took off.

They stayed one in front of another just admiring their naked bodies on the beach when Mellie jumped into a kiss, her hands moving faster all over Olivia, who was already as wet as the sand. They were kissing fiercely and biting each other's lips when Mel laid Liv down.

"You know, I've always wanted to fuck on the beach." She whispered.

"Yeah? So fuck me, babe." Olivia said, begging.

Mellie started to lick Liv's ear, neck, and breast. She was licking her and biting her and as more as Liv moaned, more she teased. She was kissing slowly, softly, because they had all the time of the world. It was just the both of them and that beach, and their love, and their moans being obfuscated by the noise of the sea.

Olivia was pulling Mellie's hair harder and harder, and it was with sand all over it. Mellie passed her right hand across Liv's chest, and then belly, making her feeling chills. When Mel reached Liv's clit she was so wet and Mel started to press it softly as Liv was getting wheezing.

Mellie was kissing Olivia as hard as she could. She was rubbing her own clit on Olivia's right leg, and Liv was pulling her hair with her right hand and with her left hand, she was pressing Mel's butt harder as the woman was fucking her.

The blue-eyed woman put one finger inside her girl and that moment she could feel Olivia's body shaking. Liv was licking Mellie's neck and ear when she said:

"Put another one and fuck me hard, babe."

That was what Mellie did: her finger dancing inside her woman, and both of them gasping standing on the wet sand.

The whole trip was marked by it: sex and late drunk nights on the beach. They enjoyed every moment they had together and made the island their particular heaven. Everything was more than perfect, the place was everything they ever dreamed about, but they knew that what made it unforgettable was being able to be there together, loving each other.