When Fitz and Olivia returned home on Sunday they were both exhausted and went right to bed. The secrets were out and Fitz knew everything. He was determined to give Cyrus a piece of his mind the next morning before any meetings. How could Cyrus not tell him about Justice? Or about Olivia? Fitz held Olivia each night that they slept together, it made them both relax and enjoy the time they had.
On Monday morning, Fitz ordered Cyrus into the Oval to have a long talk.
"Good morning, sir," Cyrus was pretty chipper for a Monday morning.
"That is up to who you speak to. For you, this is not a good morning," Fitz spoke harshly.
"She told you everything?" He watched Fitz nod yes. "How I found out? How I kept it from you? How I was an awful person?" Fitz nodded again. "Well, let me have it. I deserve it. Whatever punishment you want to put on me, I can take it."
Fitz sat behind his desk, clearing the papers away. "If you weren't such an asset to me, you'd have been fired on Saturday. But since we are good friends and your child is my goddaughter, I won't fire you. Plus, Olivia seems to have forgiven you but I'm not so quick about it. She told me every detail there was to tell. Including you calling her a whore. I don't give a shit how pissed off you are at her or how much you are trying to protect this administration, you will never call her that or anything close to it again. Understood?" Cyrus said he got it. "You knew she was pregnant and you never came to tell me? We had a plan worked out that you helped with; you are supposed to be her friend. Friends help each other; they don't intentionally hurt the other. She deserves better than that; she deserves better than me but I can't let her go. I almost lost her before. I've lost my crazy bitch wife, the children I thought were mine, and the child that I never got to meet or know existed. I blame you for that Cyrus. I should have been there for her and our son when I had the chance. I know I was being stubborn and couldn't face her after the whole Amanda thing. But you should have told me the truth. Made me see reason and how much she needed me. Olivia tried so many ways to get to me and you had her arrested! How do you know she wouldn't have gone off the deep end? She could have hurt herself if she wasn't in her right mind. You were there for her but you weren't the one person that she needed."
"Fitz, I know I'm not who she needed. But America needed you more. Olivia was being taken care of by the best doctors possible. She also had me and James. We begged her to tell her team but she didn't want them to worry about her. I told her she couldn't tell you because it wouldn't be fair to you. How could she just leave you without a minute's warning then come back months later almost dying? It wasn't fair to you and she knew that."
"She wasn't trying to get me to come back to her, Cyrus! She was trying to tell me about the baby. Liv never wanted me to know about the cancer but she had to tell me if she was going to tell me about the baby. You knew how sick she was and how much danger that would put on the baby. You had every chance to tell me. I asked you how she was every day for months but you kept saying she was fine. She was nowhere close to being fine! And neither was our son. She told me all the details about the hospital."
Cyrus knew he was in trouble then. "I had to leave to help her. If I had told you that I was going to see her in the hospital, you would have come along and the country would have fallen apart. You ran on being a man of the people, you had to stick to it."
"The people would have understood that the woman I love more than life itself was sick and needed me more. As much as you hate the woman and believe me I do too, Sally could have taken over for a couple days. There's not damage that she could have done that couldn't be undone. Liv needed me then more than she ever has or will. You denied me the right and duty to take care of her."
Cyrus stood up and got in Fitz's face. "You had no right to take care of her! She's not your wife! She's not your responsibility. The woman you and I are talking about, Olivia Pope, is more than a million percent capable of taking care of herself. And when she wasn't able to, I did. When she lost that baby and wasn't able to take care of herself, I took care of her. She has a team that is more than able and willing to take care of her. Part of the job is going over a cliff and that's what had to be done. My job is to protect you and this presidency and I did it. But my job as her friend, her mentor, is to take care of her and make sure that she is fine. And when it came to picking one or the other I chose you. And you better believe that I chose the wrong one. She might have forgiven me but she will not forget about it and you can bet your presidency that she will hold it over my head until the last breath I take. So when you decide to get your head out of your ass and actually marry her, that's when I'll take a step back and let you do your duty and give you the right of taking care of her. Until then, don't ever tell me how to do my job with her."
Fitz watched Cyrus get his breathing back to a normal pace as he sat on the couch. "I understand that she isn't my wife. I hate that she isn't but I do intend to make her that. Eventually, when the time is right, we will get married. Thank you for taking care of her when I couldn't. Still, you should have told me what was going on with her." The two stayed quiet for what felt like hours but was nearly a few minutes. "Cyrus, what happened after she lost the baby?"
Cyrus didn't want to tell him but Fitz really did need to know what occurred to Olivia when he wasn't there to support her. "Dr. Rain called me and told me what happened. I went to the hospital and tried to talk to her but she didn't want anything to do with me. I finally convinced her to go home. So I took her back to her apartment. I made sure she got in bed and at least attempted to get some sleep. Before I left I dumped all the liquor she had and took any pills she had and threw them out. I wasn't sure if she would try anything but just to make sure I wanted them gone. I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt if she did something to herself. I went to check on her every day for a week. No matter what I said or what I tried to bribe her with she wouldn't get out of bed. The second week I told her that I would take her to you if she got out of bed but she wouldn't budge. I slept on the couch for a few nights but she still never moved. One day after I left here I went to her apartment and she wasn't in bed. She was in the baby's room in the rocking chair holding some bear that she got him and cried. When I went in to talk to her she just started screaming at me. And I took it, I knew I deserved it. She had every reason in the world to yell at me. After that, she sent me away and told me to never come back. I didn't want to upset her more so I stayed my distance."
"But you went to her appointments with her. You went with her to her chemo. Cy, you knew exactly what was happening at Camp David. She had to let you back in."
Cyrus nodded his head agreeing with every word Fitz said. "I did go. Just to be there for her. To let her know she wasn't alone in all of this. But she wouldn't let me into the room with her. She never told me anything about what was going on during the chemo. I tried to get in there with her but she never would let me in."
"Then how did you know everything?"
"Dr. Rain broke confidentiality and told me against her wishes. He thought that someone needed to know about her condition and how she was handling everything. She wouldn't let me in but she let James in. James went with her to her appointment and got to sit in the room with her and tell her everything was going to be okay while I sat in the waiting room worried that she might actually die from this. When you needed the mess cleaned up, I told you I'd get Olivia on it but I had to have James ask her for the favor. After you went to her apartment and she yelled at you I had enough of it. I used the spare key to get in and wait for her. When she got home she said I wasn't welcome there and I tried my best to make nice. I told her that she needed to tell you before she cleaned up your mess but she had changed her mind. She said she didn't want you to know about any of it."
"Liv stayed in bed for two weeks and never went to work?" Fitz asked him. Cyrus nodded saying she did.
"She got so attached to the baby before he was born, she even named him."
"I know, she told me. Justice."
"Liv said the name seemed right since both his parents were lawyers and worked hard to keep the justice system standard high."
"Thank you Cy, for taking care of her even though she wouldn't let you. I'm glad someone was looking out for her when I wasn't. She and I had a long talk about the baby and her not discussing things with me. We're both working hard to keep moving forward but I need you to stay out of the way. Don't ever deny her access to the White House. Even if she's carrying a live grenade in her hand when she walks through security, let her in."
Fitz went back to the residence in the early evening and looked around for Liv. When he went into their bedroom she had left a note on his pillow. I went back to my apartment to get some things and finish some work. Be back soon. ~Liv.
Fitz asked Tom how long she had been gone and he said since eleven that morning. He got a bit worried and told Daniel to get the car. When they got to Olivia's apartment, the door was unlocked so Fitz walked in. He went searching for her and finally found her in the room he had never seen. He walked into the baby's room and saw her sitting in the rocking chair next to the crib with a blue teddy bear that she was holding against her chest. Fitz looked around the room, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. Liv had the room painted a dark blue with red carpet. The crib was all made up, ready for a baby to sleep in it. All the furniture that was in there was white. She had an American flag blanket over the side of the crib and another white teddy bear holding the American flag in its claw. The bedroom was a hundred percent ready for a baby to come home. She had diapers, clothes, bottles, wipes, shoes, everything a baby would need. The only thing missing was a baby.
He went behind the chair, putting his hands on her shoulders as he bent down to kiss the top of her head. When she felt his hands on her, she stopped rocking and started crying harder.